Appearing on Fox News Sunday, conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh blasted President Obama for treating Republicans as a greater enemy than ISIS terrorists: “Barack Obama's number one enemy is the Republican Party and the conservative movement. You see he gets animated, he doesn't need cue cards, he doesn’t need Teleprompter when he starts ripping into them.”
He continued: “But when you get ISIS on the board or anything in the Middle East, very cautious, very precise, very don't want to offend them, don't want to make them mad....I think it's very dangerous....I think the country is in more danger than people know.”
Anchor Chris Wallace followed up: “I know that you were struck, like a lot of people were, by the President Obama's news conference at the G-20 summit in Turkey on Monday, in which he seemed to be more upset with Republicans who want to limit Syrian refugees coming into the country than he was with the ISIS terrorists who slaughtered people in Paris.”
Limbaugh declared:
He's not serious, Chris. I mean, there are legitimate questions about what and who he thinks pose threats to this country and who our real enemies are. And I'm sorry, the American people, looking at the latest polling data, he’s got his worst marks ever on dealing with terrorism. People are scared. We’ve got these refugees coming in and nobody’s confident that we can vet them. And yet we're told, “Don't be a bigot, don't be a racist, don't be a xenophobe.” We're none of those things and nobody who’s worried about this is. They love America, they’re concerned about our security. They don’t think this administration is or at least they’re not seeing any signs of it.
He later concluded:
It's almost as though he thinks that we've committed all these crimes since our founding, unjust and immoral, and it's time for payback, it’s time for us to find out what the rest of the world goes through every day. It's time for us to bite the bullet. I think it's really troubling....I think we are a great nation at risk in a dangerous world and the people leading the country today don't see that. They see us as the problem, not the solution.
Here is a full transcript of the November 22 exchange:
9:35 AM ET
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RUSH LIMBAUGH: Barack Obama's number one enemy is the Republican Party and the conservative movement. You see he gets animated, he doesn't need cue cards, he doesn’t need Teleprompter when he starts ripping into them. But when you get ISIS on the board or anything in the Middle East, very cautious, very precise, very don't want to offend them, don't want to make them mad.
CHRIS WALLACE: Let me pick up on that.
LIMBAUGH: I think it's very dangerous. Chris, I think it’s really dangerous. I think the country is in more danger than people know.
WALLACE: Let me pick up on that because I know that you were struck, like a lot of people were, by the President Obama's news conference at the G-20 summit in Turkey on Monday, in which he seemed to be more upset with Republicans who want to limit Syrian refugees coming into the country than he was with the ISIS terrorists who slaughtered people in Paris. Here is the President on both of those issues.
BARACK OBAMA: The terrible events in Paris were obviously a terrible and sickening setback....When I hear political leaders suggesting that there would be a religious test, that's shameful. That's not American.
WALLACE: Rush, what do you think’s going on here?
LIMBAUGH: In that press conference from those soundbites you just played, he also said that he doesn't believe in all this sloganeering like “providing leadership” and “winning,” you know, that’s just – the first time I heard him say that was in reference to Afghanistan in 2009. He said, “Yeah, when I victory, talk of victory, I think of poor Hirohito being dragged to the Battleship Missouri to sign surrender paper.” He's not serious, Chris. I mean, there are legitimate questions about what and who he thinks pose threats to this country and who our real enemies are.
And I'm sorry, the American people, looking at the latest polling data, he’s got his worst marks ever on dealing with terrorism. People are scared. We’ve got these refugees coming in and nobody’s confident that we can vet them. And yet we're told, “Don't be a bigot, don't be a racist, don't be a xenophobe.” We're none of those things and nobody who’s worried about this is. They love America, they’re concerned about our security. They don’t think this administration is or at least they’re not seeing any signs of it.
WALLACE: We do have a history, though, in this country not only for matters of religious persecution, but also people fleeing violence in their country of taking them in as refugees. How would you handle the Syrian refugees, Rush?
LIMBAUGH: Well, you know what? I’d pause it. I would put a pause on it right now, and I would, again – I don't profess to be an expert in everything. I'm an expert in a lot of things, Chris, but not everything. And in this case I’d get some people who can tell me how best to do this. We paused refugees being allowed to enter the country in 2011, you know who did it? Barack Hussein O. There was a six-month pause on Iraqi refugees for the very same reason that people are worried about the Syrian refugees today.
Look, I have friends who are Syrians, I play golf with them. They're great people. This is not about that. It's not about bigotry or racism or anti-ethnics or against certainly nationalities. It's about the defense and protection of the United States of America and our constitution, which is what is the primary job of the President of the United States. And again, he just doesn't seem to be oriented in that direction or interested in it. It's almost as though he thinks that we've committed all these crimes since our founding, unjust and immoral, and it's time for payback, it’s time for us to find out what the rest of the world goes through every day. It's time for us to bite the bullet. I think it's really troubling. I'm having to bite my lip here on what I really think. I think it’s really, really devastating.
WALLACE: Well, what do you really think?
LIMBAUGH: I think we are a great nation at risk in a dangerous world and the people leading the country today don't see that. They see us as the problem, not the solution. They think that we are responsible for some of these problems, they'll fall back and blame George W. Bush for what's going on. ISIS didn't exist when Bush left office.
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