Book says the goat of radio broadcasting. The greatest of all time. He revolutionized talk radio. He singlehandedly saved the am band and even later the fm band and radio and in doing so he forged a path. A path for people like me. The great one, mark levin. People like glenn beck how just heard from and others. When Rush Limbaugh first syndicated the year the 1988. Ronald reagan was president. Nobody thought it would ever work. They it was impossible a daytime syndicated talk show. Only less than 200 Radio Stations in the entire country. Now i believe over 4,000 stations. Talk radio is by far the largest format in all of radio. When you add podcasting, website listening. Xm listening. Its a lot. He also paved the way even for this network. Fox news and even opinion shows on left Wing Networks not that they would ever acknowledge it. More importantly, over five decades, it was his words, his principles, his ideals, his spirit. It shaped the soul of a nation. Generations of americans. Now, rush truly believed in this country its goodness, its greatness. The greatness of you, we, the american people. He believed always that this is the greatest country god ever gave man. He believed deeply in the principles outlined in our constitution. He was an unyielding champion for freedom, for all, for decades. And this is important. It wasnt just a conservative or a republican. His love for country and the people who live here was boundless. And by the way, he never wanted to cancel anybody, ever. He stood up for the likes of bill maher. His impact on this country, this land our kids, generations, grand kids, guess what . This place we call home is beyond anything words, frankly, can even begin to describe. Take a look. Liberals they think its morally to take from one group of people and give to another group of people. Isnt it always conservatives . Arent we the ones that are often told we are imposing values but its the left that has always done that this is common, right . You are exactly right. You know, the conservatism has been so maligned in staterun media for so many years. All we want is success for everybody. We want freedom for everybody. We understand that a great nation is made up of great people doing great things. Ordinary people accomplishing extraordinary things. We dont look at the American Population with contempt and derision. We dont look at a group of people and pick out the number of blacks in it and the number of whites and the number of women. We see americans. We see human beings and potential. Liberals look at a group of people incompetence, people that cant overcome the obstacles of life and want a Government Program to help them. Its somewhat frustrating because conservatism i think we talked about this last time conservatism is a process that some people says needs to be redefined or modernized era of reagan is over. No, no, no, no, no. Freedom will never go out of style and thats the foundation of conservatism. Sean 31 years. 31 years. Its flat out amazing. You know, time is like everything. Time raced by on certain things and other days its just been slow but, man, am i blessed. We all are. Its such a great opportunity to have to be able to talk about these things that really matter. The future of the country with so many millions of people. Its really really really been an honor and its ongoing. Its there is still nothing i do, sean, that i get more enjoyment out of than this. So, and, also appearing on fox, i have been very blessed to be invited here by you. And i cant thank you enough for having me on. Sean whenever rush spoke, tens and tense of millions of americans listened. He had an amazing unapologetic presence. He was always authentic. A true original. Genuine, never ever let his detractors slow him down. He did it with his mischievous humor. People get upset. Bubble and fizz. Snowflakes in the day when rush would say with talent on loan from god. Thats so arrogant. Not really. He is admitting all great talent comes from god. And he always fought for what he believed in. By virtue of your listening to my radio show and being active in this movement that we all cherish and love, you have meant more to me, my family and my life than whatever it is i might mean to you. Even though i know thats considerable. [laughter] [applause] you still cant you cant outdo the absolute joy and awe and thanks i feel for all of you. I have been doing this for 20 years and the numbers just keep growing. And i cant tell you how appreciative i am and proud to be in a movement with the same passions, desires and core beliefs that all of you have because we know that its right for the country and we know its right for people. Its not something that has to be forced on them. Its not something that has to be authoritatively pressed on them. We are what is and thats why we are an enemy because we are effective. The people that do want control look at us as the enemy. We are always going to be dont ever measure your success by how many drive by media reports you see that are fair to us. Never going to happen. Dont measure your success by how many people like you. Just worry about how they vote. Sean and america, its a better place because conservatism was never that hard. And for all the years he was on the air, he never changed. Conservatism was simple. What do conservatives believe in . Liberty, they believe in freedom, limited government. They believe in less bureaucracy so we can let business and american invention and ingenuity thrive in this country, lower taxes, less bureaucracy, he wanted, lets see, law and order, safety, security, every town, every city. School choice for every child so they can get the quality education they deserve . Secure borders . Energy independence . Constitutionalists on the bench . Peace through strength. We need peace through strength. These are not complicated issues. He believed in our Second Amendment as well. But, it wasnt just his un patriotism that made him great. Rush was also incredibly funny and incredibly gaining. Fun to be around. I can tell you from my own personal experience, uplifting. He could put things in a perspective. He would have a take on something that i would always say i wish i had thought of that that no one else would have. Even during some of his toughest moments while battling cancer, rush was finding the good in life. The amazing thing is, probably all of us have watched the movie the bucket list. And its a great movie. Morgan freeman, jack. Nicole coal son. If i only have a year to live or whatever. Rushs bucket list was to be with all of you. His listeners. His bucket list to do was to do what he with was born to do. And he did. Even fighting through the you know what Cancer Treatments are like. We all know somebody who has been through it. Its hell on earth. And he would go through the treatment. Get well as soon as he got well enough, he would race to the studio to follow his bucket list. Being on the air. And here is one of his final Radio Broadcasts from just a few weeks ago. Take a look. A day that lou gehrig announced that he had his disease that was forcing him to retire from major league baseball. He said to the sold out Yankee Stadium today i feel like the luckiest man on the face of the earth. And i didnt understand that. I mean, heres a guy who had just been diagnosed with the most terminal of terminal diseases. And i said this cant be he cant really think he is the luckiest guy in the world. This is just something that he is saying. Because it will play well. I dont mean to be insulting lou gehrig. Dont misunderstand. How in the world if you are being honest can you feel like you are the luckiest man on the face of the earth . Well, when i got my diagnosis, and when i began to receive all of the outpouring of love and affection from everywhere in my life, from so many of you, in so many ways and from my family, who they have supported me my entire career, even during times it would have been understandable and easy for them to say, rush who . We dont know this guy. That never happened. I mean, i have been totally supported by virtually everybody in my family. I have been propped up. I have been defended. I have been made to look better than i am. My lovely Wife Catherine has done so much in that regard. She has done so much with Rush Limbaugh. Com and with the charitable efforts that we have engaged in and all of it has been to my benefit. All of it has been for the and yours. The benefit of people who are the recipients of our efforts. So many people have put me first in all of this. I understand now that lowe loweg meant. I feel extremely fortunate and lucky. Sean Rush Limbaugh felt like the luckiest guy on earth through the treatment and pain he fought on. He fought on his bucket list was to be with you, to fight for the country he loves and final days, he wanted to be with all of us. All of you. He wanted to do that which i argue he was born to do until the very end. A man who cherished life, humble, grateful, generous, thankful. And loved his family. Loved god. Loved this country. I was lucky to know rush. I know his wonderful family. My prayers are with his wife, his brother, his brothers wife. And his long extended family in cape Jerry Garrard dough, missouri. His nieces and nephews. I want to extend deepest to his radio staff i cant mention everybody but you know were thinking about you along the way. He loved all of you more than anything. He loved his Wife Catherine. Catherine was the love of his life as he just said. Who earlier today delivered a very powerful stoic and so difficult but powerful tribute. From today on, there will be a tremendous void in our lives and, of course, on the radio. Rush loved our miraculous country beyond measure. An unwavering patriot. He loved our United States military, our flag, our constitution our founding fathers. He proudly fought and defended conservative values in a way that no one else can. Rush often stood up and took arrows on his own because he knew it was the right thing to do. Rush encouraged so many of us to think for ourselves, to learn and to lead. He often said it did not matter where you started or what you look like, as americans, we all have endless opportunities like nowhere else in the world. Rush gave us hope that through hard work and determination we can overcome the obstacles in our lives and be our best. Sean tonight we will honor are you sure. We will have full coverage of the life, his legacy. President trump will i didnt know us. The great one mark levin will also be here. First, joining us now Fox News Contributor and former speaker of the house newt gingrich. You know, we all kind of intersected in 1994, although we both met in 1990 in a Holiday Inn Hotel room where you were giving a speech and i was a local host in huntsville, alabama and then i was a local host in atlanta. And you often talked about are you sures impact. We have three ways of conservatism and that would be reagan, the contract, you, and donald trump. You always gave him credit for being a big part of its success. Yeah. Look, i think there are a lot of things to be said about are you sure more than we have time for before the president comes on. And let me just say that ronald reagan, after he left the white house, sent a note to rush saying im happy to acknowledge that you are enough to the leading artic could you later of conservatism. I think it was true. By 19 he came national in 1988. By 193, he played an integral role with what we were trying to do. In developing the contract with america. I dont think we would have won control of the house that year without rushs support. I will also say i dont think donald trump would have won the republican nomination without rushs support. Rush had built, much like you, and sort of the next generation, rush was a pioneer. He built an army of 20 or 25 Million People who were more than that because they would listen to him and then they would go talk to their friends over coffee or at the office or after Sunday School and so probably are you sure was impacting 50 to i would say 70 Million People every single week. And he was a clear artic could are aarticulator. When reagan left they didnt understand what he left. They didnt know how to talk about it and talk about conservatism. Are you sure filled the vacuum and enabled a generation to learn how to think about these things and to learn how to stand up to the left and to learn how it use language that was effective. And i think that historians will look back and realize that he is one of the great cultural figures in american political history and that his total impact is almost beyond measure. But, beyond that, if i might, sean, because you and i both knew him and loved him and knew him as a person not just as an icon or a national figure. I found are you sure to be very personal. I have always said, you know, he left Cape Girardeau but never left in his heart. The are you sure who is still here just a few days ago was somebody whose heart, whose patriotism, whose core values came out of Cape Girardeau and he knew it. He was never affected when he lived in new york. He never became a new yorker. He always thought people up there were weird. Thats part of why he went ultimately down with gay and stanley gains to palm beach. You are out on long island, lets be honest here. People from new york are weird. Sean im an idiot for staying up here. I will admit it. But, there was something about him that was so downtoearth so practical. Now, he had a lot of bombast practical reason. It worked. He wasnt in a sense a great vaudvilleian. He now how to keep you tuned. In what was he going to do next . That was also the professional rush. The personal rush i had the remarkable experience of being with calista at lunch one day they had both been High School Radio disk jockeys for their respective small town Radio Stations. Are you sure dropped completely the national figure. He went right back to what it was like in high school. They were swapping ideas. I just thought this guy is so natural. And i think its one of the things that is very hard for the media to capture but he, in fact, loved people. He and in a very real sense and i think that he loved america. And i think he also, much like reagan, was permanently optimistic because he was convinced that in the end freedom defeats slavery and, therefore, a free people will defeat the socialist and all the other people who want to try to control our lives. So, he is an enormous loss. But, at the same time, he has been an enormous gift to all of us. Sean you know, its interesting. Because a lot of people call my radio show today and i talked to a lot of people. And i talked to all of his staff. I mean, they are like family, a lot of them. And i have known them for years. And you know, a lot of hes just the type of person, mr. Speaker, that he is irreplaceable. Nobody can replace him. We all and what he would want for us, this much i know, he would want us all to up our game and take the mantel. Kayleigh mcenany tweeted today she said and now its kind of funny she was like a rush baby, a next generation. He actually educated generations of americans in what it meant to be a conservative. Thats profound. Sean, in all fairness. I think what rush would say is he doesnt want sean hannity to try to become the next Rush Limbaugh. He wants sean hannity. Sean be yourself. To be the best sean hannity. He understood that authenticity is at the heart of freedom. You have to be an authentic person if you are going to truly be free. And so he would have cherished every single no matter how strange you were, no matter how different your views were, he cherished each individual as somebody he could interact with and have great time with and argue with and sometimes educate. Sean mr. Speaker, thanks for sharing your memories. I dont know if you filled in for him. But you occasionally did fill in and neal boortz will join us later on the program, too. You occasionally filled in on the radio. This is like a reunion, did you fill in and host radio shows. How did you like it when you did it . Well, let me tell you. I was saying this to calista this afternoon, until you have tried to fill three hours and to fill it well enough that the audience stays with you, you have no idea and you are the same way. I regard you and rush as the two great leaders in both radio and, of course here because you are also on television. But this ability. And are you sure always felt it deeply i remember one time talking with him. He was really mad because some guy said to him oh, i could talk and are you sure is going i spent my whole Lifetime Learning to do this. I know how hard it is. This guy hasnt got a clue. By the way the guy didnt do very well because he didnt have a clue. Talk radio at the level of rush is a lot like football that we just saw with tampa bay. I mean, there are brady and are you sure are very similar. I would say tiger woods and are you sure are very similar. He is the peak of the game. And is he a model the people should study but never pretend that they could be that good. Sean i cant imagine going through any election cycle i without him. Its going to be hard. Mr. Speaker. I cant either. I cant either. You better up your game, hannity, because you aint got no choice now. Sean nobody could fill those shoes and we have been blessed to have him all these years. Mr. Speaker, thanks for being with us. Thats right. Sean joining us with more on the person who did pave the way. When rush started, he opened the door. It was a big forest and there wasnt a single tree cut down. And all of us that followed after that path was made so much easier, the slings, the arrows, the attacks that he took his entire career paving the way for the rest of us, making it easier for the rest of us. Im the product of that and so is that guy thats on the screen with me. I call him the great one, mark levin. Mark, you and are you sure had a very special close relationship. You knew the man. You knew the person. Tell us the other side of are you sure that some people dont know . You told a good Story On My Radio Show today. Well, you know, first of all, i want to wish rushs family all the best. This is very, very hard thing. You know, you and i would talk about this day coming and we dreaded it but we knew it was coming. Are you sure is the kindest, most decent thoughtful person. Every birthday september 21, he would fire off an email happy birthday, flea. He would call me flea because well many, many years ago i would send him some legal information or constitutional information when i was listening to him, maybe its 25 years ago. And the wonderful cookie he would call her, kathleen, she would run it down with a fax because we really didnt do emails back then to are you sure. He would look at it. And one day all of a sudden he called me the director of his Legal Division f. Leela vin. Thats pretty cool. That was really cool. Became very, very close friends. We would email and text as time went on a lot. In fact, every day and every night. We would discuss the issues and so forth. He would send gifts to my kids around christmas time. Just so thoughtful. My son chase. What does chase want . Does he want an ipad . What does lauren want . Does she want x, y, z . He would have us to his house from time to time. He was such a just a wonderful, nice man. But i want to mention a few other things, too. I want the people watching to understand something. You were his family. He loved you. You could tell by the way he got behind that microphone every day. You could tell he fought this cancer because he wanted to keep talking to you. He wanted to be with his magnificent family dave and catherine and just fantastic people. But he wanted to talk to his audience. This was his passion and love radio. Not tv and writing but that you should also know he was a veracious reader. He had a huge library. He would read the classics and philosophy and economics. When he would prepare for his shows, i know what he did. Many years ago he had me at his house where he was broadcasting. They eventually forced him into a studio. That is the town. And he said f. Lee sit next to me. He had stacks of stuff. He was like he was just perfection. And he turned to me and he said you are studying me arent you flee . You are studying me . I said yeah, i am. He said opportunity to get into radio i said not really. But i enjoyed watching him. I enjoy watching you as well. I would call him people have come up with a lot of names, and rightly so, i would call him the thomas payne of our era. He at any time have the parchment and the brochures but every day, even bigger than thomas payne, he would be preaching the case for america. He was americas spokesman. He would be he knew the constitution backwards and forwards. He knew the declaration backwards and forwards. He was selftaught. He didnt like school because he didnt like the bureaucracy. He didnt want to be hemmed in. He was an american. He wanted his independence. And fail as many times as he did, he failed to the point where he wildly succeeded. And so, he created this industry, nationally syndicated talk radio. And its not that you and i even think about competing with rush or being rush or anything like that. And are you sure wouldnt want are you sure could only fillthr. Rush was proud of all the people working in the talk radio. He never said a nasty thing about a single talk radio host. As a matter of fact, i never heard him say a nasty thing about too many people. I think its important that we ignore everything the left is saying or going to say. Whether its the New York Times or the washington post. They didnt know rush. They never wanted to know rush. They never engaged rush. They never discussed the ideas with rush. They are not legitimate sources of information. So, i think that people who loved rush, had listened to rush, his audience, it is we who are, you know, dealing with this irreplaceable loss. And i also think, as you pointed out earlier, he would want us to carry on. He would want us to fight for liberty. He would want us to make sure that the next generation is in a better situation than we are in. Here is what he believed. In here is a man without children. Who was fighting for our children and fighting for our grand children. He had nieces and nephews. Heres a man who understood. And by the way, i know im rambling a little, he was great with children. He was absolutely terrific with children, too. So, when it comes to Rush Limbaugh, i not only think i and you and others have lost a dear friend. I think the listeners have lost a dear friend. I think they viewed Rush Limbaugh as a friend. Some a son figure, a brother figure, father figure, they lost a friend. Sean, you and i know when there was some big hot issue going on, we, in the country wanted to hear first, what would rush say . What would rush say . Those were the big four words . What would rush say . What is Rush Thinking . Because he was so out of the box. He was so point of the spear. I have been thinking about his hisadoration for president trum. He really did love president trump. And i think in part not only because he loved the fact that they both golfed. That he was charismatic, that he was conservative in so many ways that the bushes werent and the romneys werent and the others werent. But i was thinking about this today. Rush limbaugh was considered, at least at the beginning, an outsider. Rush limbaugh was independent. He was his own man. He didnt follow the rules and he was told you must follow these rules. He broke them and look what he created. Rush limbaugh would speak his mind. And Rush Limbaugh would be attacked from the left. And i think he saw the same thing in trump, an outsider, independent, who spoke his mind, attacked from the left. And by the way attacked from the republican establishment. And, you know, for a period of time rush was attacked by the republican establishment, too. But, anyway, i got to tell you, we have a broken heart here in the levin family and im sure across the nation, sean. Sean wellsaid mark levin. He loved you, too. Great one, thank you. We, you know, i have a lot of Antidotal Stories that i could tell myself. I actually had the honor of filling in for rush on my radio show. You know, and one day when i first filled in, i had been on babc in new york. And they gave me the opportunity to fill in and then im thinking oh my gosh, 21 Million People, 600 plus Radio Stations. And, you know, it was a pretty daunting moment. Im in the middle of the opening monologue on the show. And in the middle of that opening monologue, the golden eib microphone dropped right onto the desk. And as it dropped on the desk, it sort of comes straight down like this. And im like doing the rest of the monologue like this, sweating profusely and having a fullon panic attack. And you know i try to do my little clinton voices i want to say hi to all the girls. Thank me. I will say it. Nobody else will say it. Rush comes back from vacation or the next day he was on and he goes sean hannity dented the golden eib microphone which really it was gold which is a Pretty Amazing thing. A true original. Joining us now on the phone is president donald trump. Mr. President , i know that the honor of his life came from you. And what that Medal Of Freedom meant to him, i know the behind the scenes story. I know the first person who made the call to was matt druj and jared kushner. And i know you made your decision with melania there in about five seconds and you said thats a great idea. Tell us about it. Well, it was an idea that we had that a lot of people suggested to me, frankly. A lot of great people of our country, largely republicans. It was an amazing night because the republicans went wild and the democrats sat there but they all respected are you sure. And i think it was, you know, one of the great honors of his life, president ial Medal Of Freedom. Its a big deal. And he was very honored by it. And he was the great gentleman. Just like mark said. I listened to mark and mack is so terrific. But, you know, he said he is special. Rush was very special. You said s true he is irreplaceable. Sean i remember discussions that we would have. I would often ask you if you come on my radio show or on 600 stations and you would always ask me about well, why are Radio Numbers so massive . You know, rush had 21 million plus listeners, and you would always ask me about rush. And i would explain it to you and you didnt you never for a while, i dont think you comprehended i knew you know radio you would go on howard stern and you would come on my radio show years and years ago. But you were surprised that there wasnt this competitive thing going on and i kept telling you there is no competition. There is nobody in his league. Well, thats right. You did say that and radio is big stuff. And he made it that way. He was the king and by the way, congratulations because i looked at some numbers you do real well on radio. But you would be the first one to say and, you know, that he was there first. And he was a brilliant guy. Just a totally brilliant guy and he could do things that a lot of people couldnt do. He could just talk for three hours. No phone calls, no anything. Just talk. And everybody found it spellbinding. So it was an honor to know him. I got to know him right after coming down escalator with melania. He was there right from the beginning, like you, you know, you were so great. And rush was so great. And it was something very special to know him. Very, very terrific man. Sean there is this side of you that i know a lot of americans dont know. And i know many people that this story holds true for. And i know in the case of rush. And when rush had his diagnosis, a little over a year ago, i knew you were calling him regularly minimum of once a month, often much more than that. And you would always be checking in with how are you feeling . How are the treatments . How is everything going . And im i know you talked to him a lot. What were those conversations like . Well, it was interesting because i didnt know rush at all, as you know. I didnt know him at all until i had gotten word that from somebody that rush was with us all the way. He was, you know, we have this guy who was so big on radio. I knew a lot about rush but i didnt know him. And he was with me all the way. And it was sort of incredible. I got to know him after that. And he was much different, actually, you know, he was a very, very i wouldnt say not outgoing. But he was very, very warm. He was just a very warm person. And, you know, when people got to know him, i loved playing golf with rush. I used to call him the bull because he was actually a very strong guy. Physically a very strong guy. He hit the ball a long way. When he hit it, it went a long way. But you got know him. And he loved this country. And he loved his wife. Because kathryn, she was fantastic. You know, the job. This last period of time, which you know better than almost anybody, this last period of time was rough, very rough for him, very, very rough for him. So he really adored her. Sean you know, its interesting. On rushs show today, i was listening before i began my radio program. They played a segment of rush and in that segment he said if you took tapes of him when he started in 1988 and, again, nobody thought that anyone could syndicate during the daytime and be successful and he proved all the naysayers wrong. And if you look at where he stood, conservative justices, liberty, freedom, Less Government intrusion, less regulation, less taxes, lower taxes, energy independence, secure borders, choice in schools, the Second Amendment. Free and fair trade. Peace through strength found familiar . Because thats your agenda. Thats what you did. He was right there. He understood it. He got it. He has been that way for a long time. He hasnt been somebody thats changed. He didnt go from being a liberal to being a conservative. I mean, he was there from the beginning and he hasnt changed his views havent changed very much. And his audience, as you know, better than probably anybody, the loyalty of his audience was incredible. Staggering. Nobody had seen anything like it. So, he was just a very special guy. And he is going to be missed by you and by me and by, as you said, 21 Million People and i guess a lot more than that, even. He will be missed by a lot of people. Sean millions, the moist loyal audience, generations. Your own Kayleigh Mcenany, i mentioned earlier, she was a rush baby. Her dad would be listening in the car. And it shaped her viewnt to vieo conservatism. He did that for so many of us and so many around the country. I want to thank you. I appreciate you being on the program. I know i read your statement the other day, and i know you said in the month ahead you have a lot you want to tell us and we wont do it tonight, obviously. When that time comes, we are looking forward to hearing what your future plans are and what you are planning to do. I have a funny feeling we are going to hear a lot more from donald trump are my instincts correct . Well, there is a lot to talk about. And our country is a great place. And were going to make it even greater as the expression goes. But we have a lot to talk about. But today is all about rush. Dont you think . And he i dont know, what he left behind he will never be forgotten. He is one of the people that will not be forgotten. Big impact. Great guy. Sean mr. President , we always appreciate you being with us. Thank you for your time tonight. Thank you very much, sean. Sean Coming Up Neal Boortz fellow talk show host. Reflecting on One Of A Kind legend Rush Limbaugh as we all continue. Sean now, a little more than a year ago, Rush Limbaugh received the Medal Of Freedom from president trump. This is what happened that night. And, rush, in recognition of all that you have done for our nation, the millions of people a day that you speak to and that you inspire and all of the incredible work that you have done for charity, i am proud to announce tonight that you will be receiving our countrys highest civilian honor, the president ial Medal Of Freedom. [cheers and applause] sean here with more reaction to the incredible life, the legacy of rush, Fox News Contributor, our other good friend, we have a lot of good friends tonight, dan bongino is with us. You know, dan, i look at your success and i champion your success. Rush championed all of our success. He never thought it was a zero sum game. His answer was i am only on three hours a day. And an entire industry built up all of us, you know, followed that forged path that he trail blazed for us. And took a lot of heat for. Yeah. You know, sean, your reverence for rush, you know, if i may, i wont share any of the details but you know i talk to you once in a while. And whenever i ask you for advice on tv or radio on my career, i have just started a few years ago, you have been in this industry decade now, like rush, you would always say to me and i know you would say heres what rush would say. I mean, you said that so often and so did levin, it was interesting watching you three titans of radio, you were, from 12 00 noon eastern until 9 00 at night. What was the meat and potatoes of radio . It was limbaugh, hannity and levin. To hear both you and mark always who have taken me under your wing and both given me amazing advice over the years to always cite rush really says a lot. Neither you nor mark would ever mention rush in his final weeks or days. And never mentioned his passing. I would just remember in the conversations you would never mention anything about successors. Because it was the greatnesss Rush Limbaugh it is really great to talk about. Sports analogies work best. Willie mays and Mickey Mantel good 10 year runs where they were the best in the business. Willie mays didnt invent baseball. Rush limbaugh invented the conservative National Talk radio space. Before him there was talk radio. But the National Talk radio space that you and mark and glenn and other you know, Titans Of Industry took from, took from rush. He created the game. And not only did he create the game, he was number one in the game. Not for a decade. Not for two decades but more than two decades. That is absolutely phenomenal achievement. Sean you know, it is. I look at somebody we are close friends. Im not hiding the fact. We are close friends. And i look at every platform now there is over 4,000, saves the am band, the fm band. And then you have got Web Streaming and then you have got podcasting where you are one of the most successful podcasters out there then you have got fox news and how that was built. This model just grew and grew and grew and the appetite for news and information, especially in light of the fact that journalism is dead and the media mob is corrupt. And he always understood that, too. And the one thing they do have in common, they hate us all. I mean, the people that didnt like rush, and we always wear as it a badge of honor. And kind of like rolls off us like water off a ducks back and it did rush, too. Rush was around 8 years before fox news even went on the air. Before fox news, interest was there wasonly rush. What was it about rush. Thats the fascinating question. The french have that term that we have adopted in english i dont know what it is that characteristic. What was it it wasnt that he told stories, sean. You and i tell stories on our show. Everybody tells stories. Its talk radio. Was it that he is funny. Im not funny at all. You are pretty fun. Mark is very funny. Everybody is funny. What was it about rush . The answer is who the hell knows . He was just unbelievable whether i special. Sean, one thing, again, you have been in radio a long, long time from the local level to one of the biggest radio hosts in the world. Everybody dial its in once or twice on radio. Sick, dont feel good. Take a lot of calls, whatever it may be. Not rush. And if he did it, you could never tell i would listen on apps go, to Rush Limbaugh. Com. Wmal, whenever i was. I never heard a time where i could tell you all right. Today is he dialing it in. Not once in 20plus years we all remember the first time we heard Rush Limbaugh sadly i remember the last time, too. December 23rd. If i only would have known when i was listening i was brushing my teeth listening on december 23rd, in my bathroom that those were the last moments that we were going to hear Rush Limbaugh on the radio. You know, i would have treated those moments a little differently, sean. Sean i think we all would have. I mean, i dont think the country ever took him for granted. You know, its funny, because after political cycle and rush experienced this a lot, too. He started when reagan was president. Was there for bush 41. 8 years of clint. Mary matlin said and i mentioned this with Harris Faulkner and bill hemmer earlier today you know, mary matlin said well, how would we have survived without rush during that year because he lifted everybody up . Well then that resulted in 43, then 43 led to obama. Then we had donald trump. And now we have somebody who is cognitive struggling. And you know, you think about it, people would always say well, whats rush going to talk about now . A democrat is elected . What are you guys in talk radio going to talk about now that a republican is elected . There is always a lot to talk about because the battles and the principles that we care about as conservatives that we care deeply about, they never change. They stay the same. And if i think one thing that mark said that i agree with and i was saying on my radio show, and i mentioned with newt, is that i know that rush would want all of us, nobody can ever replace him. But all of us that care about these issues, that learned so much from him, to up our game and he would want us to fight for everything that he believed in and his bucket list was to stay on the air to keep fighting until the very last day. Which is a lesson, also, i think for a lot of us. You know, sean, you mentioned Kayleigh Mcenany saying that she was a rush baby. I consider myself the same. I mean, for a lot of us, im in my mid 40. The first time, sean, we ever heard the true essence of conservatism was when we accidentally flipped on the radio and heard talent on loan from god. You heard that. You said who is this guy . Thats the first time. The first time i heard about how awful sean half my brain tied behind my back. I didnt even know it a place before Rush Limbaugh. I dont think leo linden knew it was a place before Rush Limbaugh. He was a legend. The first time i heard the essence of conservatism and it woke me from the doldrums of my college years. Right . I had been indoctrinated by a bunch of liberal lunatics sitting outside of Queens College and flipping on the dial and hearing the incredible voice of Rush Limbaugh. And it changed my life. I would not be here talking to you tonight. No doubt without Rush Limbaugh. God rest his soul. Sean amen. Great job good and faithful servant. Thank you, dan. Joining us now syndicated radio host Dennis Prager and he shouldnt be retired but he is retired inn. Spite of all my admonitions to get back on the air. Traveling the world. Syndicated host neal boortz, neal, you were the one, i always gave you attribution. He is the babe ruth only get one babe ruth. Well, and the Arnold Palmer. He did for radio what Arnold Palmer did for golf. I was practicing law. There was no way i could make a career out of radio until Rush Limbaugh came along. And boosted just lifted the water under everyones boat. Sean, i dont know i have so many great i could go for an hour with Antidotal Stories about Rush Limbaugh. And i know you do not want me to do the story about women applying makeup in their cars. On the way to work. Sean there is a certain word associated with that that blew into a big controversy. I remember. And by the way, changed ever since have you gotten on the boarts bus. You havent changed a bit. You are still rat ling every cage you can. You cannot help yourself. Dennis prager. No, i cant. But, let me the greatest story i have to say this, sean, and this involves you. 2009 im inducted into the radio hall of fame. And years earlier neal had said to me if you ever go into the hall of fame i want to deliver your induction speech. 2009 i sent him an email i reminded him. Never heard back from him for the longest time. Meanwhile you stepped up neal, if he doesnt respond i will come to chicago and deliver your induction speech. Then about a week before the induction ceremony, rush said, look, thats my golf weekend down here in palm beach. But im going to load all my golfing buddies in the plane and we are flying up to chicago together and im going to deliver your induction speech. He really stepped forward on that promise. I admired him so greatly. Sean we all did. Dennis, your memories . Well, quickly here, i know theres not a lot of time. But dan mentioned his joy in the success of the rest of us in talk radio. So, about i dont know, even two months ago, i broadcast at the exact same time. I have for the 20 years of my syndication. I broadcast same time rush does. Rush, of course, much larger audience. I loved his success. And he loved my success. So i find out on his show he is reading my column aloud. My weekly common aloud. Who else would do that a guy on at the same time and he is extolling, so to speak, my virtues. That gives you a sense of the type of man that he was. Pause he loved america. And he loved conservatism more than he loved Rush Limbaugh. I believe that. Evidence one of us who knew him also believes that one more point. Whenever i have a guest i have guests from European Countries on the show. I always tell them do you know what the big difference between america and your country . We have talk radio. You dont. Sean dennis, thank you. Neal, thank you. I might let you tell the Story On My Radio Show tomorrow. More hannity after this. Im greg, im 68 years old. I do motivational speaking in addition to the substitute teaching. I honestly feel that thats my calling to give back to younger people. I think most adults will start realizing that they dont recall things as quickly as they used to or they dont remember things as vividly as they once did. Ive been taking prevagen for about three years now. People say to me periodically, man, youve got a memory like an elephant. Its really, really helped me tremendously. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. He reminded his listeners, he could see the. And he reminded all of us. Rush, well miss you. Jesse welcome to watters world. Im jesse watters. Lessons from limbaugh. Rush limbaugh passed away this week after battling lung cancer. The words used to describe him most often are pie near. A person who bravely sets forth on a path of their own and advances against the wilderness to stake an original claim and establish a new way of life. Rush was a radio pioneer