Rush Limbaugh (right) at the State of the Union in February.Photo: MANDEL NGAN/Getty Images
One day after announcing on the air that he had beendiagnosed with advanced lung cancer, popular conservative radio hostRush Limbaughwas seated as a guest of honor at Tuesday night’sState of the Union.
PresidentDonald Trumppaused his speech to address Limbaugh directly and award him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
“Rush Limbaugh, thank you for your decades of tireless devotion to our country,” President Trump continued. “And Rush, in recognition of all that you have done for our nation, the millions of people a day that you speak to and that you inspire and all of the incredible work that you have done for charity, I am proud to announce tonight that you will be receiving our country’s highest civilian honor: the Presidential Medal of Freedom.”
“I will now ask the first lady of the United Sates to present you with the honor,” the president said.
Limbaugh also mouthed “thank you” as the room of assembled lawmakers clapped and cheered.
“Rush and Kathryn, congratulations,” the president said before resuming his speech.
Past medal recipients includeMartin Luther King Jr., former First LadyNancy Reagan, and a host of philanthropists, activists, religious leaders and others.
First Lady Melania Trump places the Presidential Medal of Freedom on radio host Rush Limbaugh.MANDEL NGAN/Getty Images
President Donald Trump in February.MANDEL NGAN/Getty Images
Limbaugh first made his cancer public on Monday. “I wish I didn’t have to tell you this and I thought about not telling anybody,” he said on his show. “I thought about trying to do this without anybody knowing ‘cause I don’t like making things about me.”
Limbaugh said that he “first realized something was wrong on my birthday weekend,” on Jan. 12, and his diagnosis was later confirmed on Jan. 20.
“The worst thing that can happen is when there is something going on and you try to hide it and cover it up, it’s eventually going to leak and then people are going — ‘Why didn’t you just say it, why’d you try to fool everybody?’ ” he said Monday. “And it’s not that I want to fool anybody. It’s just that I don’t want to burden anybody with it and I haven’t wanted to.”
Limbaugh rose to national fame during the advent of conservative talk radio in the ’90s. His provocative style has drawnhis share of controversyin the past (and that same history raised some eyebrows on social media on Tuesday, after he received his medal).
In 2010 hemarried Kathryn Rogers, his fourth bride, in Palm Beach, Florida, where an unlikely guest —Elton John— serenaded them.
source: people.com
