Twitter allowed mocking phrases and hashtags to trend on Wednesday following the death of conservative radio icon Rush Limbaugh, who lost his battle with cancer, as leftists cheered.
“We, the Limbaugh family, are deeply saddened to announced that our beloved Rush has died,” Limbaugh’s wife, Kathryn Adams Limbaugh, said in a post on her husband’s Facebook account. “Rush Hudson Limbaugh III will forever be the greatest of all time, a courageous, brilliant gentle giant and radio pioneer. Our entire family is so thankful to everyone who prayed and cared for Rush, especially the audience he adored. Rush’s love for our country, and for all of you, will live on eternally.”
Shortly following the news of Limbaugh’s passing, Twitter allowed phrases like “Good Riddance,” “Rot in Hell,” and “Rest in Piss” to trend on their platform.
Twitter lefties getting classier by the second… pic.twitter.com/CNPxzXJhb2
— Andrew Surabian (@Surabees) February 17, 2021
"Rot in Hell" is what Twitter decided to put right below the Rush Limbaugh trend pic.twitter.com/fGq97x8bd3
— Caleb Hull (I'm With the CCP Don't Ban Me) (@CalebJHull) February 17, 2021
While those outside of the hard-left either simply posted information on Limbaugh’s passing or remembered his life with kind words, those inside the hard-left cheered and attacked him following his death.
“Rush Limbaugh was a coward and white supremacist. He aggressively and cynically exploited divisions in our country by weaponizing hatred and bigotry for his own personal gain. He was in service to his own greed, prejudice, and hypocrisy, and that is how history will remember him,” far-left activist Charlotte Clymer wrote on Twitter. “If Rush Limbaugh deserves credit for anything, it his pioneering work in spreading disinformation and directly enabling our nation’s current state of vast distrust of experts and spurning of good faith in the public discourse. He will not be missed by rational adults.”
If Rush Limbaugh deserves credit for anything, it his pioneering work in spreading disinformation and directly enabling our nation's current state of vast distrust of experts and spurning of good faith in the public discourse. He will not be missed by rational adults.
— Charlotte Clymer 🏳️🌈 (@cmclymer) February 17, 2021
Anti-Second Amendment activist Cameron Kasky wrote: “Rush Limbaugh has passed on, but worry not- his memory lives on through bigots everywhere.”
Rush Limbaugh has passed on, but worry not- his memory lives on through bigots everywhere
— Cam (@cameron_kasky) February 17, 2021
“Whether you loved him or hated him-and there are very few people in between-Rush Limbaugh was indisputably a force of historic proportions,” CNN commentator David Axelrod wrote. “Over the past three decades, he did as much to polarize our politics as anyone and laid the groundwork for Trump and Trumpism.”
Whether you loved him or hated him-and there are very few people in between-Rush Limbaugh was indisputably a force of historic proportions.
Over the past three decades,he did as much to polarize our politics as anyone and laid the groundwork for Trump and Trumpism.— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) February 17, 2021
Yale Law School professor Scott Shapiro wrote on Twitter: “I wouldn’t say I was happy that Rush Limbaugh died. It’s more like euphoria.” Shapiro later set his Twitter account to private following backlash that he received online.
I wonder why Yale Law Professor @scottjshapiro just locked his account pic.twitter.com/UssEryLFxZ
— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) February 17, 2021
Media Matters blogger Parker Molloy wrote: “My sincerest condolences go out to hell’s other residents who now have to deal with being associated with him.”
My sincerest condolences go out to hell's other residents who now have to deal with being associated with him.
— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) February 17, 2021
“Rush Limbaugh was one of the most harmful and poisonous people in the modern United States of America,” leftist Jared Yates Sexton tweeted. “His pursuit of wealth and power hurt untold numbers of people and wrought incalculable damage to politics as a public good, society as a whole, and the planet itself.”
Rush Limbaugh was one of the most harmful and poisonous people in the modern United States of America.
His pursuit of wealth and power hurt untold numbers of people and wrought incalculable damage to politics as a public good, society as a whole, and the planet itself.
— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) February 17, 2021
Far-left commentator Medhi Hasan wrote: “Rush Limbaugh died. Rightwingers on Twitter are heaping praise on him. I challenge you to read the things he said about minorities, black people, gay people, women, sexual consent, torture, climate, even the Jan 6th attack, and find things to praise in there. I challenge you.”
Rush Limbaugh died. Rightwingers on Twitter are heaping praise on him.
I challenge you to read the things he said about minorities, black people, gay people, women, sexual consent, torture, climate, even the Jan 6th attack, and find things to praise in there.
I challenge you.
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) February 17, 2021
Far-left commentator Cenk Uygur wrote: “The idea that you say artificially nice things about people after they die is weird. I’ve never understood the logic of it. Rush Limbaugh was a terrible person while he was alive. He made a living by attacking the powerless. His death does not in anyway change or redeem that.”
The idea that you say artifically nice things about people after they die is weird. I've never understood the logic of it. Rush Limbaugh was a terrible person while he was alive. He made a living by attacking the powerless. His death does not in anyway change or redeem that.
— Cenk Uygur (@cenkuygur) February 17, 2021
News organizations also sought to smear Limbaugh, with ABC News calling him “controversial,” HuffPost calling him “bigoted,” CNBC calling him “incendiary,” and The Washington Post calling him a “provocateur.”