President Trump considered launching a White House radio show to address Americans during the outbreak of the coronavirus, but ultimately scrapped the plans so as not to compete with Rush Limbaugh.
Trump raised the idea at a coronavirus task force meeting in early March before scuttling it soon after, according to The New York Times. The president envisioned a two-hour daily program where he would take unfiltered calls from people across the United States and directly answer their questions about the pandemic and other issues.
Trump withdrew the idea as suddenly as he had proposed it, though, saying he did not want to compete with Limbaugh or encroach on the conservative radio talk show host’s massive audience. Limbaugh speaks to about 15.5 million listeners a week during his three-hour broadcasts every Monday through Friday.
Limbaugh has been a longtime ally of the president, supporting Trump earlier than even many on the right during the 2016 primary, despite the crowded field of Republican contenders. Trump has reciprocated Limbaugh’s support and calls the radio host on a weekly basis to check on his health, according to the Limbaugh, who has late-stage lung cancer.
After Limbaugh announced his diagnosis on Feb. 3, Trump awarded the conservative host with the Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor, in a surprise ceremony during the State of the Union address on Feb. 4.
“He is the greatest fighter and winner that you will ever meet,” Trump said. “Rush Limbaugh, Thank you for your decades of tireless devotion to our country.”
In recent weeks, Limbaugh has called for an end to coronavirus-induced shutdowns to get people back to work. He has criticized Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, for his cautious approach to reopening the country even as millions of Americans are furloughed, fired, or unable to work because of heavy-handed government measures.
“Dr. Fauci is perfectly fine in terms of his medical qualifications to tell people about the virus and how it expands and how it can be dealt with and all that,” Limbaugh said on his show on Tuesday. “But when Dr. Fauci is put in charge of when things reopen then that, to me, is going a little too far.”
“I see all these businesses that are closed, and, as I drive by them and look at them, I wonder: How many of these businesses were people’s life’s work? How many of these businesses? Be they restaurants or whatever, how many of them represent a boarded-up, closed life’s dream?” Limbaugh said.
Trump has taken steps to prepare for an eventual opening up of the country, announcing last week a new task force to build a plan for when and how to ease restrictions on social distancing. The coronavirus-induced shutdown has already cost at least 16 million jobs over the past three weeks and likely many more. State governments have been overwhelmed by the number of people suddenly filing for unemployment benefits after being furloughed or fired.
As The Daily Wire reported on April 9:
“Crashing websites and clogged phone lines are causing long delays for an untold number of applicants. Economists are unsure when the historically high unemployment numbers may peak. Experts worry that as unemployment rates across the country rise, the chances of a fast economic recovery are slipping away.”