Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh gave a wide-ranging interview to the Today Show's Jamie Gangel, which NBC is airing over two days. In the segments aired this morning, Limbaugh denied leadership of Republican party, scoffed at the suggestion that he was in anyway responsible for the defeat of the McCain campaign, and confirmed that his show is mainly about making money: "I'm doing my show for ratings. I want the largest audience I can get because that's how I can charge the highest advertising rates, which means what else do I want? Money."
Perhaps the most revealing clip from today comes during a discussion about how ideology and business are "inseparable." Limbaugh became defensive about any hint that people consider him just an entertainer and not a serious critic.
I'm not an actor, but let's face it. Radio and showbiz, this rap, that I'm just an entertainer, is a way that critics of mine try to discredit me. You'll note nobody takes me on on my ideas. Nobody argues, they always say God, you hear what he said? He's this, he's that, he's outrageous, he's bombastic. Those are attempts to discredit me among people who don't listen to me. But the media didn't make me and they can't break me. They've been trying the same plays from their playbook for 21 years.
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