Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh on Thursday responded to CBS chief executive’s comment that Stephen Colbert is not too liberal to host the “Late Show.”
When CBS first announced that the Comedy Central host would take over for David Letterman when he retired, Limbaugh said that the network had “declared war on the Heartland of America.”
On Wednesday, CBS executive Les Moonves said he disagreed with Limbaugh’s assessment and that Colbert is “much more moderate than people think he is.”
On his show on Thursday, Limbaugh addressed Moonves’ comments in a broader monologue about late night comedy, ratings and the media.
“Late night is not what it used to be,” Limbaugh said. “But, anyway, you see, ratings don’t matter. He wanted to go out and he wanted bragging rights. He hired a guy and he doesn’t even know who he really is. He hired a guy, a character, who makes fun of conservatives — Colbert — who then they promptly said he is dropping the character.”
Limbaugh then dives an argument that most media no longer reflects reality.
“So now CBS has hired a guy that the question is, ‘Who is he?’ It still doesn’t matter ’cause Les got his bragging rights,” he said. “Because we’re straying further and further from reality, and we’re being consumed by what isn’t real. We’re being consumed by what we’re told is important, what we’re told is real and substance. Reality is falling by the wayside each and every day.”
The conservative pundit then suggests that media in the U.S. is controlled by the government.
“Be it news media, be it entertainment media, be it pop culture media, it isn’t what you think,” he said. “In fact, it’s not even close anymore. And more and more of media is becoming state-controlled. Or at least more and more media is aligning itself with the state, with the government.”
Finally, he reassures his listeners that he’s not too hip.
“We can’t live in some artificially created universe here of buzz and hipness. We couldn’t survive. We are, for what it’s worth, mired in reality here. That’s why I’m called the mayor of Realville,” Limbaugh said.
