Conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh took a break from talking about the coronavirus pandemic and consequent economic crisis on Wednesday to weigh in on former Democratic presidential frontrunner Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) finally dropping out of the race on Wednesday. The truth is, Limbaugh contended, Sanders had no real shot at winning the nomination, yet the media went “nuts” over the democratic socialist’s announcement anyhow.
Amid segments in which he highlighted the latest COVID-19 models sharply downgrading their predictions of the total number of deaths connected to the virus to about 60,000 (down from around 82,000 a few days ago, which was down from 94,000 before that — and ultimately down from over 2 million if no social-distancing measures had been imposed), Limbaugh acknowledged Sanders’ belated decision to give up his presidential dream, again, on Wednesday.
“I wish I could give you better news, but I think you know the truth, and that is that we are now some 300 delegates behind Vice President Biden, and the path toward victory is virtually impossible,” a disappointed Sanders announced in a livestreamed statement Wednesday. “So while we are winning the ideological battle and while we are winning the support of so many young people and working people throughout the country, I have concluded that this battle for the Democratic nomination will not be successful. And so today I am announcing the suspension of my campaign.”
“This is a joke, right? You’re kidding me,” said Limbaugh. “Bernie Sanders says he’s suspending his campaign. Bernie Sanders’ campaign hasn’t been real since 2016. Bernie Sanders was never gonna get the nomination, the Democrat Party, in 2016. He wasn’t gonna get it this year.”
“He made a big deal about suspending his campaign, and is supposedly paving the way for the moderate wing of the Democrat Party to triumph once again with Joe Biden,” Limbaugh added. “There is no moderate wing of the Democrat Party.”
Despite having no shot, said Limbaugh, “the media is just going nuts” over the socialist senator’s announcement.
“I guess it’s because it’s a different story,” Limbaugh theorized. “I guess it’s because it has to do with politics and nothing to do with the coronavirus. But they’re just going nuts over this. Fox Business is giving Bernie Sanders minutes and minutes and minutes to espouse his socialist agenda here as he announces he’s getting out, suspending his campaign.”
“Look, folks, I’m not exaggerating. He was never gonna get the Democrat nomination,” Rush stressed. “I don’t know if he knows it or not, but they rigged it against him in 2016. He wasn’t gonna get it this year.”
As an example of some of the reporting out there on Sanders dropping out, Limbaugh pointed to a report by The Hill describing Sanders’ early victories as having “sent the moderate wing of the Democratic Party into a tailspin, with centrists scrambling to unify around an alternative to Sanders, whose democratic socialism they feared would prove an easy general election target for President Trump.”
Citing the report’s reference to “centrists” in the Democratic Party, Limbaugh remarked, “There aren’t any. There really aren’t anymore. I don’t even think it’s a big secret.”
The host also predicted that even though Sanders’ throwing in the towel is being reported as paving the way for an inevitable Biden nomination, it might not end up being him in the end, either — or, at least, the former vice president won’t be the one actually calling the shots.
“I can see the Democrats wanting to nominate Biden and have some kitchen coronavirus cabinet behind Biden actually pulling the strings, the levers of power while Biden’s out there as the figurehead,” Limbaugh mused. “It would allow the people actually running the Biden administration anonymity if they wanted it so that they could exercise all kinds of — he’s just a placeholder.”
Related: Trump On Bernie Dropping Out: We All Know Who To Thank And Why This Actually Happened