Liberals openly celebrated the death of conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh on Twitter Thursday, causing ‘Rest in P*ss’, ‘Good Ridda...
Liberals openly celebrated the death of conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh on Twitter Thursday, causing ‘Rest in P*ss’, ‘Good Riddance’ and ‘Rot in Hell’ to trend on the social media site.
Limbaugh, 70, died at home in Palm Beach, Florida, on Wednesday morning following a 12-month battle with lung cancer. His fourth wife Kathryn announced the news of his death on his radio show to his loyal fans.
But while conservatives across the nation mourned the loss of the larger-than-life broadcaster who laid waste to political correctness over his decades-long career, a cohort of liberals took to social media to, as some put it, ‘dance on his grave’.
‘It’s easy to make fun of Rush Limbaugh right now,’ wrote TV writer Mike Drucker, ‘but it’s important remember that he also brought a lot of people joy by dying.’
Actress and singer-songwriter Bette Midler wrote: ‘Rush Limbaugh has gone to his reward. Bet it’s hot.’
Adding to the chorus of celebrations was Rick & Morty writer, Siobhan Thompson, who wrote: ‘RIP Rush Limbaugh died 69 years later than he shoulda.’
Limbaugh, 70, died at home in Palm Beach on Wednesday morning following a 12-month battle with lung cancer. His fourth wife Kathryn announced the news of his death on his radio show to his loyal fans
Cenk Uygur, the host of Young Turks, took to Twitter to say he believed it was a ‘weird’ idea to say ‘artificially nice things about people after they die’.
‘I've never understood the logic of it,’ Uygur continued. ‘Rush Limbaugh was a terrible person while he was alive. He made a living by attacking the powerless. His death does not in any way change or redeem that.’
Crooked Media host Erin Ryan quipped ‘God has canceled Rush Limbaugh’, while musician Finneas chimed in: ‘Feeling sorry for the people of Hell who now have to deal with Rush Limbaugh for the rest of eternity.’
Comedian Paul F. Tompkins wrote: ‘If I had to say something positive I guess I’m glad Rush Limbaugh lived long enough to get cancer and die.’
Similarly, author Chris Kluwe said it was ‘good’ that Limbaugh had died, writing: ‘let the celebration about his death be a reminder to the rest of the racists and bigots that we’ll happily dance on your graves too.’
Writer Mark Harris, however, said he was ‘genuinely sorry’ that Limbaugh wasn’t able to ‘live one more day so he could have seen all the tweets’ mocking his passing.
Throughout the barrage of celebratory tweets, ‘Rest in P*ss’, ‘Good Riddance’’ and ‘Rot in Hell’ started trending on Twitter under Rush Limbaugh’s name.
In a section explaining its trends on its website, Twitter discloses that trending topics are manually curated by its employees.
‘We manually monitor Trends and work to add context to help answer the question, “Why is this trending?”,' the social media giant says. 'We do this through attaching a representative Tweet to the Trend, adding a headline and description, or curating a landing page to give more direct context. We may also add a combination of these.'
Twitter has not yet responded to a Dailymail.com request for comment as to how terms such as 'Rest in P*ss' came to trend with Limbaugh's name.
In life, as he is sure to after his death, Limbaugh - a staunch supporter of Trump - had long divided opinion among the right and left.
Unflinchingly conservative, wildly partisan, bombastically self-promoting and larger than life, Limbaugh galvanized listeners for more than 30 years with his talent for sarcastic, insult-laced commentary.
He called himself an entertainer, but his gleeful rants during his three-hour weekday radio show broadcast on nearly 600 US stations shaped the national political conversation, swaying ordinary Republicans and the direction of their party.
He described himself as a 'truth detector', the 'doctor of democracy', a ‘lover of mankind, a harmless, lovable little fuzz ball’ and an ‘all-around good guy.’ He also claimed he had ‘talent on loan from God’ and took as a badge of honor the title ‘the most dangerous man in America’.
Long before Trump’s rise in politics, Limbaugh was pinning insulting names on his enemies and raging against the mainstream media, accusing it of feeding the public lies.
He called Democrats and others on the left communists, wackos, feminazis, liberal extremists and radicals.
When actor Michael J Fox, suffering from Parkinson’s disease, appeared in a Democratic campaign commercial, Limbaugh mocked his tremors. As the Aids epidemic raged in the 1980s, he made fun of those who were dying. And he called a 12-year-old Chelsea Clinton, the daughter of former US president Bill Clinton and former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, a dog.
Limbaugh was also frequently accused of bigotry and blatant racism for such antics as playing the song Barack The Magic N***o on his show.
The lyrics, set to the tune of Puff, The Magic Dragon, describe Obama as someone who ‘makes guilty whites feel good’ and is ‘black, but not authentically’.
But to those who loved and admired him, including former President Donald Trump, he was a ‘legend’ and a ‘hero’.
Limbaugh described himself as a 'truth detector', the 'doctor of democracy', a ‘lover of mankind, a harmless, lovable little fuzz ball’ and an ‘all-around good guy'
Trump led the tributes among conservatives on Thursday, writing in a letter that the broadcaster had ‘passed away to a better place, free from physical pain and hostility' and called him a 'guiding light with the ability to see the truth.'
‘His honor, courage, strength, and loyalty will never be replaced. Rush was a patriot, a defender of Liberty, and someone who believed in all of the greatness our Country stands for,’ Trump wrote.
‘Rush was a friend to myself and millions of Americans - guiding light with the ability to see the truth and paint vivid pictures over the airwaves.’
Former First Lady wife Melania tweeted that Limbaugh was a 'fearless American patriot.'
In a subsequent interview with Fox, Trump called Limbaugh a 'legend' and said for some people listening to him was 'like a religious experience'.
'He loved the people of this country so much. He was so happy with what we did. We rebuilt the military. All things that we did. We cut taxes, we cut regulations,' Trump said.
'He was with me right from the beginning,' Trump said of when he first connected with the conservative host during the 2016 campaign.
'And he liked what I said and he agreed with what I said and he was just a great gentleman.'
Throughout the barrage of celebratory tweets, ‘Rest in P**s’, ‘Good Riddance’’ and ‘Rot in Hell’ started trending on Twitter under Rush Limbaugh’s name
Trump led the tributes among conservatives on Thursday, writing in a letter that the broadcaster had ‘passed away to a better place, free from physical pain and hostility' and called him a 'guiding light with the ability to see the truth'
Days after revealing his lung cancer diagnosis last year, Trump presented Limbaugh with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the State of the Union Address.
‘This is not good news,’ Trump said then of Limbaugh’s diagnosis. ‘But what is good news is that he is the greatest fighter and winner that you will ever meet. Rush Limbaugh: Thank you for your decades of tireless devotion to our country.’
Conservative firebrand Candace Owens also spoke out over her sadness regarding Limbaugh’s death Thursday, saying she was ‘heartbroken.’
‘He is an American icon that can never be replaced. Let the life he led serve as a reminder to us all to fight nonstop for truth.
‘We face dark times in this country, but we can all be a light if we have the courage to speak up, unapologetically,’ Owens wrote.
Former President George W. Bush, meanwhile, said Limbaugh ‘spoke his mind as a voice for millions of Americans.’
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