Conservative political commentator Rush Limbaugh has said that President Donald Trump advised him to never apologize for his controversial remarks about 2020 Democratic hopeful Pete Buttigieg’s sexuality.
On Monday, Limbaugh used his radio platform to respond to Buttigieg. Limbaugh insists he didn’t lecture Buttigieg on family values. He went on to reveal that he’d discussed the situation with Trump.
While many found Limbaugh’s remarks to be offensive, he claims Trump advised him not to apologize — ever.
“Hell, the president even called me about this!” Limbaugh said on his show. “He said, ‘Rush, I just got to tell you something. Never apologize. Don’t ever apologize.'”
“I had no idea this thing had even bubbled up,” Limbaugh said. “You know, I’m up doing the medical thing that I have to do here, and I wasn’t even aware of this.”
Limbaugh went on to share why he thinks so many people were outraged by his comments. He believed many “low information voters” were not aware of Buttigieg’s sexual orientation.
“I think they think that there’s a lot of people that don’t know he’s gay and that I sort of dropped the dime on it and let people who otherwise didn’t know that Mayor Pete is gay,” he said. “I think that’s what they’re really mad about, that I even mentioned it.”
The latest news follows remarks Limbaugh has expressed about Buttigieg’s presidential campaign. He firmly believes America “still isn’t ready” for an openly gay president.
However, Buttigieg believes otherwise. On Sunday, Buttigieg appeared on “State of The Union” with CNN’s Dana Bash.
Pete Buttigieg: "I love my husband, I am faithful to my husband. On stage, we usually just go for a hug, but I love him very much. And I am not going to take lectures on family values from the likes of Rush Limbaugh" #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/KmZlGBxZ7q
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) February 16, 2020
When asked about the controversial remarks, he made it clear that Limbaugh’s comments wouldn’t change his stance.