All conservatives have a memorable moment listening to Rush: Dan Bongino
Fox News contributor Dan Bongino pays tribute to the conservative talk radio icon Rush Limbaugh on ‘Fox and Friends.’
Fox News contributor and podcast host Dan Bongino said Thursday that all conservatives have a memorable moment from listening to Rush Limbaugh, the American radio icon who died yesterday after a long battle with lung cancer.
"We became different people because of Rush Limbaugh," Bongino said on "Fox & Friends." "Every conservative I know, everyone has had that Rush Limbaugh moment where they were listening and heard an idea for the first time ever."
Bongino noted that at the time "The Rush Limbaugh Show" came on the airwaves in 1988, Fox News and other mainstream conservative outlets were still almost a decade away.
"If you wanted to hear what conservatism was about there was only one place, and it was on your AM [radio] dial," Bongino said.
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Bongino, who was diagnosed and treated for Hodgkin lymphoma in September last year, said that Limbaugh’s cancer diagnosis was a "lifetime journey," that makes you appreciate and acknowledge the impermanence of life, despite the "horrible" experience of chemotherapy.
He applauded Limbaugh for staying on the air as long as he did, and said he regretted not listening more closely to what would become Limbaugh's final shows in recent months.
Bongino, who now works within the same space Limbaugh "created," added that "Rush Limbaugh invented the national conservative talk radio space – he invented the game."
In his final radio broadcast of 2020, Limbaugh thanked his listeners and supporters, revealing at the time that he had outlived his prognosis.
"I wasn't expected to be alive today," he said. "I wasn't expected to make it to October, and then to November, and then to December. And yet, here I am, and today, got some problems, but I'm feeling pretty good today."
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"The Rush Limbaugh Show" began 33 years ago on national syndication with only 56 radio stations and grew to be the most listened-to radio show in the United States, airing on more than 600 stations, according to the show’s website. Up to 27 million people tuned in on a weekly basis and Limbaugh has lovingly referred to his passionate fan base as "Dittoheads," as they would often say "ditto" when agreeing with the iconic radio host.
Fox News' Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.
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