Limbaugh Defends AIG From "Lynch Mob ... Ginned Up By Obama"

Anger at American International Group knows no party lines. But one top Republican isn't joining in. On Monday and Tuesday, Rush Limbaugh defended the insurance giant and their bonus payouts:

"A lynch mob is expanding: the peasants with their pitchforks surrounding the corporate headquarters of AIG, demanding heads. Death threats are pouring in. All of this being ginned up by the Obama administration."

When one of his own callers said he agreed with President Obama on this one, Limbaugh replied: "Let me ask you a question. ... You have a company -- let's take AIG out of this 'cause they're so emotionally charged. Let's say that the company being bailed out is the XYZ Widget Company. ... We need them to manufacture widgets and sell widgets and so forth. So why in the world -- or how do you get to the point where you're going to bail out the company, but you don't want the employees to get paid?"

The caller protested that the AIG employees were already getting paid plenty, and Limbaugh responded that the only thing stopping him from making just as much was himself:

LIMBAUGH: Do you know what? And I mean this from the bottom of my heart, Nathan -- the only person stopping you is you. There's 250 -- he hung up. Damn it, he hung up. Right?

Nathan, if you're -- there's $250,000 out there for you, Nathan. If you really want it, you really want to earn that kind of money, it's out there. Now, it's going to -- and don't -- I'm not being insulting -- it's going to take hard work.

Read the full transcript at Media Matters.

The AIG defense led MSNBC's Keith Olbermann to name Limbaugh, not for the first time, his "Worst Person In The World" Tuesday night. Watch:

Comments

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

Far be it for me to suggest who makes up Limbaugh's audience, but I'm at a loss:

How is defending multi-million dollar bonuses for multi-bazi­llionaires going to play with the red state heartlanders fearing for their jobs?

Oh wait, anything Obama's against, Rush is for. And versa visa. Never mind.

[jazzycafe]

He'll rail against Obama for anything and everything. There will be devoted Rush fans who blindly nod in agreement at anything he says. "Rush says it, it must be so." There is no reasoning going on with his base.

[mikelartist]

PIMPSLAPPED! Another Keith Olbermann Worlds Worse masterpiece.

It must feel so good stuffing the wingnuts' words back down their throats.

[Eyeswideopen1]

Somebody's gotta do it. CNN stopped years ago.

[freedomitchy]

The bonuses are bad, but they are only less than 1/10 of one percent of the bailout fortune.

[sasidechick]

I see you have Rush's talking points today. I am really curious--what type of work do you do?

[freedomitchy]

You listen to Limbaugh?

[Eyeswideopen1]

Which is the part that really get's me. Everyone is focusing on the sand particles and ignore the boulders. It's a red herring.

[Icantbelieveher]

The loans to the auto makers don't amount to much when compared to the money given to banks and AIG, but the union workers were made to rewrite their contracts! Why is it okay to trickle on the middle class, but not the people who caused this mess?

[freedomitchy]

You are confused, I don't think the AIG should have gotten the bonuses. Point is they are trivial in the big picture. We need to watch the $170 Billion.

[gjohntheterrible]

It makes sense that Limbaugh would see not problem in handing out multi-million dollar bonuses to executives who failed so spectacularly.

[obamagal]

Your response has earned my "favorite" vote. In response I can only say "indeed".

[gjohntheterrible]

TY!!!