On his Tuesday show, Rush Limbaugh brought up former Bush strategist Mark McKinnon, who he said used to love talk radio back when Bush was running for office. But now it's all about shutting it down, shutting down anything that's guilty of spreading "misinformation." MSNBC host Katy Tur talked to McKinnon on Monday afternoon, bemoaning the poisonous presence of Fox and OAN and Newsmax.
Rush said, "Isn’t it amazing? Last week these people didn’t even know who OAN was. They had an idea of what Newsmax was, but they weren’t sure. Now all of a sudden these two organizations may as well be Satan. OAN and Newsmax." Here's the clip:
TUR: Now they're going off into the darker corners of the internet, not able to gather maybe in as large numbers online as they were before. But is that the only solution here? Or is the solution that beyond just Republican lawmakers, beyond the Matt Gaetzes, the Andy Biggs, the Mo Brooks, et cetera, that this needs to be addressed in the public platforms that Republicans flock to, that conservatives flock to, the Fox Newses, the OANs, the Newsmaxes, the right wing talk radio, et cetera.
McKINNON: It does, Katy. There needs to be a very concerted, much broader effort, a lot of thought into how do we leach out this poison of these myths in the system that are creating this kind of violence. And I can't say specifically right now, I apologize but I know there are some efforts like that being planned right now. And I hope they’re significant, because it’s gonna take a lot and it’s gonna take a long time.
Because, as you know, Katy, you've talked to a lot of these people [for Trump]. you can't just confront them with the facts because they don't believe it. They live in an alternate universe where they have been told other reality, quote "realities" that they think are realities. So it’s not gonna happen overnight, and it’s not gonna happen easily, but it’s gonna take a long and sustained effort. But I think that those kind of efforts are being contemplated and planned.
Rush replied "So he’s letting us in on the idea that they at the Lincoln Project and others in the Never Trumper world are already making plans and are happy to announce them on MSNBC of getting rid of the OANs, of the Newsmaxes out there, of the Fox Newses out there, and of course right-wing talk radio. Now, McKinnon makes it clear that it ain’t gonna be easy. It isn’t gonna happen overnight. It’s gonna have to take some patience out there. It’s gonna require a long, sustained effort."
PS: McKinnon emailed Rush to say he's not associated with the Lincoln Project, as Rush suggested, so he read that on the air. McKinnon's not among Lincoln Project guys, but as an MSNBC regular and a former aide to Bush and John McCain, he certainly sounds like a lot of other "MSNBC Republicans."
