Following conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh’s announcement that he had been diagnosed with stage four lung cancer, a high school English teacher in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, sent out a tweet celebrating the host’s diagnosis, and wishing him a painful death.
Replying to a tweet that reportedly showed support for Limbaugh, Milwaukee High School of the Arts teacher Travis Sarandos reportedly tweeted the following, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Limbaugh absolutely should have to suffer from cancer. It’s awesome that he’s dying, and hopefully it is as quick as it is painful.
The Sentinel reports that Sarandos has since deleted his Twitter account, and that he has been placed on leave from the school.
The Daily Wire reached out to Milwaukee Public Schools for comment, and Shahree Douglas, director of communications and outreach, responded with the following statement:
We are aware of Mr. Sarandos’ actions and can confirm that he was not speaking on behalf of any students or staff of Milwaukee High School of the Arts or Milwaukee Public Schools. The district is following policy and procedures related to personnel matters. Mr. Sarandos has been placed on leave pending further investigation.
Limbaugh announced his diagnosis on February 3 during his radio show. “I have to tell you something today that I wish I didn’t have to tell you,” he said. “I have been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. Diagnosis confirmed by two medical institutions back on January 20th.”
The following day, Limbaugh attended President Trump’s State of the Union speech, and was awarded with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Prior to having Melania Trump place the medal around Limbaugh’s neck, the president said:
Almost every American family knows the pain when a loved one is diagnosed with a serious illness. Here tonight is a special man, beloved by millions of Americans, who just received a stage four advanced cancer diagnosis. This is not good news, 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. 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 country’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. I will now ask the First Lady of the United States to present you with the honor.
Following the cancer announcement, progressive critics tore into Limbaugh.
Producer and religious scholar Reza Aslan tweeted the following: “Ask yourself this simple question: Is the world a better place or a worse place with Rush Limbaugh in it?”
After being castigated by some for his question, Aslan said that he wasn’t “celebrating” Limbaugh’s diagnosis, but simply posing a question. He then went on to call Limbaugh a “a curse upon this nation, a purveyor of hatred and racism who’s at the very least indirectly responsible for the mass suffering of countless people.”
1. I am not “celebrating” anyone’s diagnosis. I’m posing an important philosophical question
2. Rush is not “my adversary” – he is a curse upon this nation, a purveyor of hatred and racism who’s at the very least indirectly responsible for the mass suffering of countless people. https://t.co/buUdG0V3IF— Reza Aslan (@rezaaslan) February 3, 2020
On Wednesday, former Vice President Joe Biden said the following during a town hall in New Hampshire:
Rush Limbaugh spent his entire time on the air dividing people, belittling people, talking about blacks in ways, African Americans in ways, that, anyway … I do feel badly and I mean this sincerely, that he’s suffering from a terminal illness, so he has my empathy and sympathy no matter what his background is, but the idea that he is at the State of the Union, receives a medal that is of the highest honor that can be … given to a civilian, I find, quite frankly, driven more by trying to maintain your right-wing political credentials than it is anything else. I mean, if you read some of the things that Rush has said about people, their backgrounds, their ethnicity, how he speaks to them – I don’t think he speaks, I don’t think he understands the American code of decency and honor.
CNN’s Jim Acosta said that Limbaugh “has a history of making derogatory comments about African Americans.”
Limbaugh’s long-time producer James Golden, also known as Bo Snerdley, tweeted at Acosta, asking him to provide examples of his friend’s alleged “history of derogatory comments about African Americans.”
I just saw the footage from CNN’s Jim Acosta saying Rush has a “history” of saying disparaging things about African Americans. I have been in the studio with Rush for 30 years. I would like to formally challenge CNN and @Acosta to provide the list.
— Bo Snerdley (@BoSnerdley) February 5, 2020