Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh
on Monday said that President Donald Trump advised him to “never
apologize” for his homophobic comments against Democratic
presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend,
Indiana.
Limbaugh made his remarks just days
after Trump awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom during his
State of the Union address to Congress and Buttigieg's strong
showings in Iowa and New Hampshire.
During his radio program, Limbaugh
mocked Buttigieg's sexuality, calling him “Booty-judge” and
describing him as “a gay guy” who “loves kissing his husband on
debate stages.”
“Can you see Trump have fun with
that?” Limbaugh rhetorically asked his radio listeners.
On Monday, Limbaugh
told his listeners that Trump “checks in every now and then to
see how I'm doing. He's such a nice guy.”
“He said, 'Rush, I just got to tell
you something. Never apologize, don't ever.' And I said, 'For what?'
Well, I had no idea this thing had even bubbled up, you know? I'm
doing this medical thing that I have to do here. And I wasn't even
aware of this,” Limbaugh told his listeners.
Limbaugh added that the outrage over
his comments had more to do with him “revealing” that Buttigieg
is gay. The media “think a lot of people didn't know that he is
gay,” he said.
Over the weekend, Buttigieg responded
to Limbaugh's comments, saying that he
“loves [his] husband” and isn't “going to take lectures on
family values from the likes of Rush Limbaugh” or Trump supporters.