On his talk radio program Monday, Rush Limbaugh highlighted a “despicable” series of reports by CNN that he suggested is the byproduct of a larger crisis driving the left-wing media: their growing desperation amid mounting evidence that their campaign to destroy President Trump is failing.

“You know, this is just despicable,” Limbaugh said at the outset of a segment focused on three overtly partisan reports on Trump by CNN. He then read a trio of headlines currently on CNN’s screen: “West Wing Chaos”; “Trump Aides Defend his Mental Fitness and Deny He Is a Racist”; “Trump Goes on Tweet Binge Full of Insults, Attacks, TV Criticism.”

“Now, I’m sorry to tell you, that isn’t news,” said Limbaugh. “That is the establishment of a narrative. A, it’s the establishment of a conclusion. So you conclude, if you’re CNN, that Trump is losing his mind. Then you call the White House. ‘Uh, is the president losing his mind? Uh, he’s sounding awfully racist in some of these tweets.’ Of course the response is, ‘What do you mean? The president is not losing his mind.'”

“This is despicable,” said Rush. “They can’t figure out why Fox News in cable news is running circles around them — even though they’re livid about it, and doing their level best to try to destroy Fox.”

“You people don’t let up! You people on CNN, 24/7 is nothing more than a permanent attack on the guy!” he exclaimed.

“So CNN has just manufactured something out of nothing!” Limbaugh said. “Where is the chaos? Where is the chaos in the White House? Where has there ever been any evidence that Trump is a racist? Where has there ever been any evidence that Trump is mentally ill? There is no evidence for any of this, and yet now they’ve got ‘experts’ on the air discussing Trump’s mental fitness and whether or not he’s really a white supremacist along with being a racist. It is. It is stunning that Trump’s approval numbers are what they are given this never-ending daily barrage, and he remains at over 90% approval in the Republican Party.”

This obsessive Trump-trashing, said Limbaugh, is the direct result of the media, not Trump, being in “chaos” — and all on account of their failure to “take him out.”

“[T]here are other things, given what CNN is doing here, and I want to touch on them because they have to do with Trump’s popularity and his reelection chances that are looking good, and it is one of the reasons I think the left is ramping this stuff up,” he said. “Because if the truth be known, it’s the left that’s in chaos, and it is the left that is fit to be tied, and it’s the left that is deranged, and it is the left that has become irrational — and I’ll tell you exactly why.”

“It’s because they have failed to do any real harm or damage to Donald Trump, much less take him out,” he continued. “Now, I know I’ve said this a number of times. But I’m gonna say it one more time from the point of view that you have to understand how this affects their daily existence. In the minds of everybody that works at the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN — take your pick of any liberal news outlet — they have the power at their fingertips to destroy anybody they want. They have done it over and over again, and they believe they can do it whenever they want to do it.”

The media is used to succeeding in their efforts to destroy people, particularly Republicans and conservatives, said Limbaugh. But Trump is a different animal.

“They have succeeded in doing eternal reputational damage to many Republicans and conservatives. For example, among people who do not listen to me, my reputation is … Well, I wouldn’t say destroyed, but it’s been so bastardized. You who listen to this program, the millions and millions of you who do, know full well that all these assaults and attacks are lies. But the people that have never listened here who nevertheless know of me by way of media coverage …”

Rush then laid out how the strategy usually works: The critics never engage the target’s ideas; instead they “mischaracterize” those ideas and attempt to soil their character and reputation, as they’ve repeatedly attempted to do to him. “They impugn character and reputation among those they consider threats,” he said. “Because, in truth, they are a minority, and the only way they can win is to bully and intimidate people into silence or inaction.”

This tactic has not destroyed Trump, though Limbaugh suggested that it has certainly hurt him somewhat in the polls, estimating that Trump would be at 55% approval with “normal” media coverage. What has hurt him the most is the special counsel investigation, simply because “it has permitted this never-ending, ongoing, two-year assault on Donald Trump as a cheat, as a fraud, as a foreign agent.”

“The fact that Trump’s numbers remain as high as they are is a testament to Trump,” Rush asserted.

“CNN is irrational, they’ve lost their grip, they have no contact with reality in any way, shape, manner, or form because their sole reason for existing is to destroy another human being, and they have failed at it, and it’s driving them crazy,” he said.

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Transcript via RushLimbaugh.com