During his Wednesday radio program, conservative host Rush Limbaugh said Senators Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Tom Cotton (R-AR) were positioning themselves for presidential runs in 2024, specifically capturing President Donald Trump’s populist movement, leaving behind so-called “old” conservatism.
Limbaugh started the segment by noting that Sen. Hawley “proclaimed that this now is the end of the conservative judicial movement, that there isn’t one” on Monday, following the shocking Supreme Court decision that Title VII can be interpreted to include discrimination based on sexual orientation, extending the protections of federal employment law to gay and transgender individuals.
“Meaning, if the best and the brightest conservative judges can side with the liberals on the Supreme Court on something nobody ever thought any sensible conservative would do, then what is the point of having a conservative judicial movement?” Limbaugh explained.
“It’s the Left that has a liberal judicial movement. It is the Left that finds judges that never waver, that never do anything but what they are to do: They are to rule in favor of liberalism in every case,” the host added. “They are to rule in favor of liberal people in every case, liberal policy. They are there to write law from the bench. That’s their mission; that’s what they do.”
“We do not,” Limbaugh said of conservatives, “and yet we’re the ones demonized!”
“Hawley also said what that proves is legislation doesn’t happen in the Senate anymore, and it doesn’t happen in the House,” the 69-year-old said, noting that Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (CA) won a “twofer” via the Supreme Court decision: “They (Democrats) get transgenderism in the Civil Rights Act plus they get conservative judges betraying the conservative movement,” he said. “That’s a win-win for her or any of the other Democrats out there that look at matters this way, count wins and losses this way.”
Limbaugh argued that Hawley is setting himself up a presidential run in 2024, adding Cotton to the mix, as well.
Assuming that Trump takes the 2020 election, the host said, “I think you’ve got two Republicans right now … Josh Hawley is making a move on it, and so is Tom Cotton, and they are positioning themselves as heirs of the Trump movement, heirs of a populist movement.”
“They are not selling some return to conservative, small government — you know, whatever the old conservative arguments were: Smaller, less spending, smaller government,” he argued.
“They’re setting themselves up to inherit the Trump agenda, which is populism, Make America Great Again,” added Limbaugh. “That’s okay. I mean, I’m fine with that. I think it’s cool for them to already be thinking about this. I like both of their reactions to what is going on.”
Partial transcript via RushLimbaugh.com
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a member.