Rush Limbaugh seems to think that Harambe, the gorilla shot and killed at the Cincinnati Zoo over the weekend after a young boy fell into the enclosure, is proof against evolution.
"A lot of people think that all of us used to be apes," the right-wing radio host said on his show Tuesday, according to a transcript on his website and audio posted online by Media Matters (above).
"Don't doubt me on this. A lot of people think that all of us used to be gorillas, and they're looking for the missing link out there. The evolution crowd. They think we were originally apes... If we were the original apes, then how come Harambe is still an ape, and how come he didn't become one of us?"
Limbaugh has not explicitly described himself as a creationist, and even said in 2010 that "clearly things evolve." However, he has also repeatedly ignored the fossil record that supports evolution, and claims that both creationism and evolution are based on faith.
"All I know is I've never been a chimpanzee, I don't believe this garbage I ever was because we were chimpanzee, why are the chimpanzees still here?" Limbaugh asked in 2004. "If we were baboons, you know, if we evolved from that, what happened to them? Why didn't they evolve? How come they got stuck still being idiot gorillas and stuff and we got to be humans?"
For the record, evolution does not mean humans evolved directly from chimpanzees but that primates -- including man and chimpanzees -- share a common ancestor. Current evidence suggests the family tree split between 5 million and 7 million years ago.
A full exploration of evolution and the fossil record can be found on the Smithsonian website.
(h/t Media Matters)
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