Following the announcement of the passing of conservative radio icon Rush Limbaugh, professors immediately flocked to Twitter to express their excitement.
On Wednesday, Limbaugh passed away nearly four months after announcing that he had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. He was 70 years old.
It took just minutes after the announcement for professors from elite institutions across the country to mock Limbaugh’s death.
Sarah Parcak, an anthropology professor at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, said she hoped that Limbaugh suffered until his last breath. “When a terrible piece of scum who caused immeasurable harm to millions dies, there is no sympathy,” Parcak said. “Only a desire that they suffered until their last breath.”
@indyfromspace via Twitter
In a since-deleted tweet, James McMaster, an assistant professor in Asian American studies and gender and women’s/LGBTQ+ studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said he was grateful the world lost Limbaugh. “Very grateful that from today onward I will live in a world without Rush Limbaugh in it,” McMaster said.
@jmcmaster29 via Twitter
Another University of Wisconsin-Madison associate professor in the Department of Gender & Women’s studies, Dr. Sami Schalk tweeted “welp” to the news of Limbaugh’s passing.
Stephen Young, an adjunct faculty member in religious studies at Appalachian State University, said Limbaugh’s legacy will live in eternal shame. “Rush is dead and his shame is eternal. Save your mourning energy for activism to dismantle the evil world he helped build. May his name be an instructive curse forever,” Young tweeted.
@slyprofessor via Twitter
In another since-deleted tweet, Yale professor of law and philosophy Scott Shapiro tweeted, “I wouldn’t say I was happy that Rush Limbaugh died. It’s more like euphoria.”
@scottjshapiro via Twitter
Professor Lora Burnett at Collin College in Texas tweeted “#BIH Rush Limbaugh.” “BIH” stands for “burn in hell.”
@ldburnett via Twitter
Another Collin College professor, Michael Phillips, wrote an obituary for Limbaugh. “He was a horrible human being beloved by the worst people on the planet. That’s my obit,” Phillips wrote.
@drphillips2001 via Twitter
Paul Thomas, a professor at Furman University, said not even cancer is a good enough excuse to mourn the life of Limbaugh. “Death and the tragedy of cancer in no way erase the facts of a person being a genuinely horrible entity that made a fortune at the expense of others. With almost no consequences,” Thomas said. “Death is no excuse for silence around evil.”
@plthomasedd via Twitter
Erik Loomis, a professor of history at the University of Rhode Island, tweeted, “pour one out for Rush Limbaugh’s pill dealers.”
@erikloomis via Twitter
A professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill retweeted an article about how she believed Limbaugh was a racist. The article was titled, “Rush Limbaugh’s Most Racist Quotes: A Timeline Of Destructive Commentary.”
After the radio legend’s death, the hashtag “#goodriddance” and “Rest in Piss” began trending on Twitter. Mariam Durrani, an assistant professor of anthropology at Hamilton College in New York, called the hashtag “quality afternoon viewing.”
“The #goodriddance situation is quality afternoon viewing,” Durrani said.
@mariamdurrani via Twitter
A postdoctoral fellow at the University of Virginia tweeted that he had a slew of “tasteless” jokes running through his mind. “There are so many tasteless Rush jokes running through my brain right now.”
@davidastinwalsh via Twitter
Rebecca Goetz, an associate professor of history at New York University responded by saying, “oh no anything that mocks that asshole is in very good taste [in my honest opinion].”
@historianess via Twitter
This article has been updated after publication to remove a tweet from Nick Mariner who is no longer a professor at the University of South Carolina.