Rush Limbaugh: The left has hijacked the game of football

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Rush Limbaugh: The left has hijacked the game of football

Talk radio host speaks out on 'Hannity.'

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," September 28, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: All right, Tucker. Thank you, and great show. And that's a long list by the way at the end of that. I appreciate it.

And welcome to "Hannity." And we are broadcasting live. We are tonight live in Florida where earlier today I did sit-down with the one and only Rush Limbaugh in his radio studio. He doesn't do a lot of TV interviews. That interview coming up in just a few minutes.

Also, Newt Gingrich will be with us tonight. But first, our opening monologue, it is going to focus on two major points that was brought up by Rush. The king of talk radio. And they have to do a President Trump's agenda, the NFL. The National Anthem controversy. We are going to cover all of that in tonight's Florida live very important opening monologue.

All right. So, today we traveled down to Florida to talk with the leading conservative voice in the country, the one and only Rush Limbaugh. Now that interview is coming up later tonight. But first, we asked Rush about Republicans in Washington and what they must do to finally start passing you, the people's agenda, the president's agenda. Let's take a look:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: This is the deal. I really believe that if for just three months going forward, or if they had just three months in the past, just three months, gut it up for three months and work with Trump on his agenda on cutting taxes seriously across the board, immigration reform, the wall, what have you, getting rid of ObamaCare, which is an absolute crime what has happened here and what that's going to mean to the country. Just try for three months. Make it look like there's unity between the president and people of his own party, and they would own Washington for a generation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Rush makes a great point: three months. You know what, this isn't that difficult. Shouldn't be that complicated. And where's the Republican vision and action on passing the president's agenda? In other words, where is their spine, their backbone in fighting for their conservative principles? And also, where's their honor, their dignity to keep their words, their promises?

So, is repealing, replacing ObamaCare and creating health care savings account that health care cooperatives -- we've discussed this on this program for years -- cutting taxes, cutting regulations, energy independence: Is it really that hard to get done? And they've been promising they would do these things for years and years. And by the way, more importantly, where is this sense of urgency to help the millions of forgotten men and women in this country that we always talked about? Help those people. This is what the election was all about and it's what we tell you every single night. Fifty million Americans in poverty, on food stamps. You know what? The lowest labor participation rate since the '70s. Right now, Republicans do need to unite. Three months he talked about. Get the job done.

Now, just take a look at how they did come together earlier together on Congressman Steve Scalise when he returned to the House floor for the first time since that terrible shooting. You know what, that's the type of unity that Congress needs and it is going to better serve the country.

Now, on taxes, President Trump did unveil his plan yesterday for massive cuts, sweeping reform in the mold of Presidents Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy. Now, what those two former presidents did, it worked and we have decades of hard evidence now to back it all up. Now, back in 1962, one year after I was born, at the Economic Club of New York, then President John F. Kennedy, he gave a speech about cutting taxes and unleashing the American economy. Democrats in Congress who opposed President Trump's plan, maybe you guys should pay close attention because you have no agenda. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN F. KENNEDY, 35TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The final and best means of strengthening demand among consumers in business is to reduce the burden on private income and the deterrence to private initiative which are imposed by our present tax system. And this administration pledged itself last summer to an across the board, top to bottom cut in personal and corporate income taxes to be enacted and become effective in 1963. I'm not talking about a quickie or a temporary tax cut, which would be more appropriate if a recession were eminent. Nor am I talking about giving the economy a mere shot in the arm to ease some temporary complaint.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Wow! Now President Kennedy, he slashed the top marginal tax rate from 90 to 77 percent and guess what happened? The economy soared. Millions of jobs were created and revenue to the federal government, lower taxes, it didn't go down. It increased. And then when Ronald Wilson Reagan came into office, he started a tax revolution to ever change the country by letting you the American people keep more of your hard earned money. Now, here's what President Reagan said back in 1981, the first year as president:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONALD REAGAN, 40TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If the tax cut goes to you, the American people, in the third year, that money returned to you won't be available to the Congress to spend. And that, in my view, is what this whole controversy comes down to. Are you entitled to the fruits of your own labor, or does government have some presumptive right to spend and spend and spend?

In a few days, the Congress will stand at the fork of two roads. One road is all too familiar to us. It leads ultimately to higher taxes. It merely brings us full circle back to the source of our economic problems, where the government decides that it knows better than you what should be done with your earnings and in fact how you should conduct your life. The other road promises to renew the American spirit. It's a road of hope and opportunity. It places the direction of your life back in your hands, where it belongs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

And then during Reagan's presidency, he enacted historic tax cuts and reform. Now, let's take a look at this. Reagan slashed the top marginal tax rate from 70 to 28 percent in the course of his presidency. Economic growth. It took off in a way America has not seen since. In 1984, GDP hit 7.3 percent. Now compare that to President Obama, he was the first president in history to never have an entire year at even 3 percent of GDP growth. And on top of all that, Reagan created 20 million new jobs after the 1982 recession. Revenues to the government again, they doubled and America saw the longest period of peace-time economic growth. Now, what Ronald Reagan did worked, and it changed the trajectory of the country forever.

Now, President Trump, modern day, he is trying to do the same thing. Now, take a look at what the President said while he was unveiling his new tax plan yesterday. Watch this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: This is a once-in-a- generation opportunity and I guess it's probably something I can say that I'm very good at. I've been waiting for this for a long time. We're going to cut taxes for the middle class, make the tax codes simpler and more fair for everyday Americans and we are going to bring back the jobs and wealth that have left our country, and most people thought left our country for good.

We want tax reform that is pro-growth, pro-jobs, pro-worker, pro-family, and yes, tax reform that he is pro-American.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

And now, Democrats, now they have no solutions. They're already coming out in full force against President Trump's plan. And they're going to insist that any bill that passes, it has to soak the rich in taxes. But that's not what Reagan did. And what this obstructionist Democrats won't tell you is this: Top-earning Americans already pay way more than their fair share. For example, the top 1 percent of wage earners in the country, they contribute 39.5 percent of personal federal income taxes. The top 10 percent of Americans, they pay 70.9 percent. Now, let's compare that. The bottom 50 percent of wage earners in America, they pay 2.8 percent. And there's almost -- and this is a good fact -- that 35 percent of tax filers, they pay zero, zip, nothing. And by the way, they'll pay even less under President Trump's plan, which of course the media is not highlighting.

Now, President Trump has momentum in growing the economy, which is why we need tax reform. We want to make it better. We want the engine to soar. Second quarter GDP was just revised upwards to 3.1 percent. Much better than Obama. Compare that to him. The first president in history, never reach 3 percent GDP growth than a single year of his presidency. That is history. Pay attention. Kennedy, Reagan, Obama: One side works, one doesn't.

And since his election, President Trump, he has worked with all of these companies to bring jobs back to America, to help the forgotten men and women. And the Trump administration, they have either pulled or suspended 860 burdensome Obama-era regulations.

Now like Rush was saying earlier tonight, putting the agenda in place to fix the economy, it shouldn't take Republicans in Congress longer than three months. And unlike the rest of the conspiracy theory fake news channels out there, you know what? On this program, we made you a promise on Monday. We are interested in solutions. We want to help people. So, to Congress tonight, it's time to get to work and get the job done. Is three months of hard work serving the American people, is it really that hard?

And also tonight, the fallout continues over some in the NFL disrespecting our flag, our national anthem, and of course our military. Now, I also asked Rush, his interview coming up in a minute, about this controversy. He's a huge NFL fan. Take a look:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIMBAUGH: They're backtracking that. Well, this is not about protesting the pledge. Of course it is. They try to say -- it's how it all got started. If they really wanted to make it -- if one of these players or group called you and said, we wanted a half hour on your show, would you give it to them?

HANNITY: Hundred percent.

LIMBAUGH: Why did they do that? Why are they messing around on the sideline? Disrespecting the flag. Disrespecting the anthem. What's the point? They're not accomplished anything except harming the enterprise. Whatever is happening in the NFL right now, it's not how you grow it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

You know what? That's a great idea from Russia. As I said to him, I'll be more than happy. I'll invite NFL players, coaches, owners, those who protest the national anthem, you're invited on the show. We'll give you an hour. We'll give you two hours, three hours. Whatever it takes. And you know what, we'll do a town hall. You want to fill up a football stadium. We'll even do that for you.

You know what? All of you can come. All you have to do is show up. And by the way, if you're really interested in solving problems and finding solutions for this country, then I think it's time that we got a talk about solutions. And, you know what, we can solve a lot of problems. Let's talk about reducing violence in places like Chicago. Let's discuss ways to improve America's horrific broken educational system.

You want to have a conversation? How about helping the millions of people in this country who have been left behind, 13 million more Americans on food stamps, 8 million more Americans in poverty under Obama and we doubled the national debt. You know what? What we don't need is people like the head coach of the San Antonio Spurs, Gregg Popovich using this issue to try and divide the country even further. You don't believe me? Take a look at this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREGG POPOVICH, NBA COACH: Our country is an embarrassment in the world. There has to be an uncomfortable element into discourse for anything to change. You know, whether it's LGBT movement or, you know, women's suffrage, race, it doesn't matter. People have to be made to feel uncomfortable and especially white people, because we're comfortable. We still have no clue of what being born white means.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

That really helped the country? Now, unfortunately, there are people like that, and especially on the left. They try to exploit especially in this case, the NFL protest and a lot of people want to advance a political agenda, political causes. And as President Trump has said repeatedly, this comes down to simple basic fundamental respect, respect for the flag, respect for our anthem, respect for the military that fought under that flag.

Now, the national anthem is something -- it should bring every single American together. For some reason, there are people who are trying to now use it to tear us apart.

Joining us now with reaction, the author of "Liberalism or How to Turn Good Men into Whiners, Weenies and Wimps," former NFL player, also he won a Super Bowl, Burgess Owens. And the Reverend Oliver White of Grace Community United Church. As you know, Burgess, I'm a huge fan. I would love to get your thoughts on this.

BURGESS OWENS, FORMER NFL PLAYER: How are you doing, Sean? Well, I'll tell you, first of all, I'm very, very proud to have a president who has the courage and the love for our country to have this come up as a topic. This is a national conversation we should have been having for many years. The problem we're having in the black community, the lack of hope is now just appeared in the last few months.

It's been over eight, ten years with a black president that never addressed the issues that are now happening in the black community. Eighty three percent of black males not working. Seventy percent of black men abandoning their family. I mean, I go to the litany of failure, and it's all because of a Democratic socialist agenda to make sure that misery is used as a political strategy. So, I'm glad, we can finally have this conversation. And at the very end of the day, we're going to have solutions and I'm very excited about that too.

HANNITY: All facts, all true. Reverend White, I want to ask you, the fact is, the reality is disproportionally when you talk about the 13 extra million Americans on food stamps. An eight million more Americans in poverty. Those of the eight years of Obama. And we doubled the national death. Disproportionately, black Americans, Hispanic Americans, they were impacted. Those policies didn't work. Kennedy's policy's worked. Reagan's policy's worked. And Trump is proposing the same thing.

REV. OLIVER WHITE, GRACE COMMUNITY UNITED CHURCH: Well, first of all, I'm glad to be back with you, Mr. Hannity. It's been a long time.

HANNITY: You're welcome.

WHITE: And why haven't you come to visit my church yet?

HANNITY: I never got an invitation. But if you're inviting me, I'll come.

WHITE: Well, you just mentioned about a town hall. We would like for you to come to South St. Paul but I mean --

HANNITY: I will come.

WHITE: You will come? You promise? We'll look for you.

HANNITY: I will come, yes, sir.

WHITE: Yes. You know, in my opinion, no president can solve all the problems that we have. I think that President Trump has done some good things, and there are some things that he has done that I disagree with. But, basically, I disagree with the way he talks. I think his rhetoric is disparaging. I think it's discouraging. I think it downs people.

HANNITY: Reverend, I don't mean to interrupt you. But Reverend, Reverend, we have kids dying in Chicago. We have millions of Americans in poverty, on food stamps, they can't get a job. You know, with all due respect, how somebody talks is not impacting people's lives every day. And if I ask you what is the real reason the players are doing this, I bet you can't give me a coherent answer.

WHITE: I think I can. And let me do it metaphorically speaking.

HANNITY: Metaphorically?

WHITE: Let's say, for example, yes, metaphorically. Every Sunday, I ask people to stand and turn to a certain hymn in our hymn note. Now, what if someone in the congregation decided not to stand? Would it be appropriate for me to say to my ushers, "hey, next time they sit down, throw those SOB's out of the church"?

HANNITY: Did anybody die? And I'll throw this to Burgess Owens. By the way, does Burgess allowed to come with us to the town hall? I would like to invite him with us. I think it's fair.

WHITE: And I would love to be there. I would love to be there.

HANNITY: People died fighting under that flag, sir. All right. Burgess, I want to give you the --

OWENS: Can I please add in here, let me tell you what our flag represents and our country represents. It's a place of hope, it's a place of second chances. And we have these young mean that are now literally millionaires and -- representing that sideline. And they have no clue that we the people, they are the solutions. Because they've been brought up in a socialist liberal Marxist environment in which they're not giving hope.

So, let's not talk about the way a president talks. Let's talk about what parties do. The Democratic Party failed the black community for decades. And personally, I'm sick and tired of us being portrayed as a hapless race that white people did all of these things to us because we don't know our history. So, let's man-up. Learn our history.

Find out that we've, not only that we give a lot to this country but we got a lot to this country. And we're the freest country in the history of the mankind. We just elected a president for eight years, guys. And here we are talking about oppression.

WHITE: I hope not.

OWENS: Give me a break. Let's go out there and let's educate our kids. Let's get involved in a free enterprise system, let's man up and tell people. If I can do it, you can do it. If we do that, we can get our country and we get our race back, and to be a race that I grew up in which is very proud, productive Christian patriotic race that I think we need to get back to this country and move forward again.

WHITE: Mr. Burgess, you know, some of the things you said I agree with. But you're not looking at the fact that a president of the United States, a person who holds the highest office in the land, has to exercise a certain measure of decorum. And President Trump doesn't do that. And that causes an issue.

HANNITY: Reverend, you're worried about decorum and kids are dying. How many kids were shot and dying in Chicago, Obama's hometown? I think he mentioned it three times in his presidency.

OWENS: Can I just say this one thing? Because we're talking about the President. How about the leadership in the black community? How about if we, instead of looking for a president as being our God or great answer, how about the grassroots leaders in the community that can reach out and touch these kids and mentor them and tell them they are great, they can do great things. We're lacking in that. So, let's not talk about the President of the United States when we're lacking in terms of the leadership within our black communities at this point.

WHITE: I don't think that's true.

HANNITY: I've got to run. I'm out of time. But Reverend, I hope will come to your church. Burgess, I would love to go with you if you like to come too.

OWENS: Absolutely.

HANNITY: I think it would be a productive meeting. And I look forward to it. Let me know when you want me --

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: Yes, you can come, sure.

And coming up, my exclusive interview with the king of conservatism in America, Rush Limbaugh, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: And welcome back to Hannity. Tonight reporting from Florida. Radio legend Rush Limbaugh sat down with me earlier today for an exclusive one-on-one interview from his studio in Florida and we started talking about the Republican Party. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: You don't do a lot of TV interviews, you're not?

LIMBAUGH: I don't. I don't. I'm totally satisfied with radio. I want for nothing. I love it so much. But this is special, because Sean, I'll tell you something, the reason America is still America is in this room.

HANNITY: You mean the camera people and you?

LIMBAUGH: All of us. But you and me, it's an honor to do this. It's great to be back on FOX News. And I'm actually grateful for the opportunity here to be on the week, you're going back to 9:00 pm where you should have been --

HANNITY: Thank you. Happy to be here. We appreciate it. I want to start with tax cuts. All the years you've talked about it. Kennedy, Reagan, how it works. What do you think of the tax plan?

LIMBAUGH: Well, you know, it's good overall. I mean, there's some things about it -- let's look at the elimination of the deduction state income tax. Do you know who's going to hate that? California, Illinois, all these blue states. That's going to cause a shortfall for them. Those taxpayers are not going to like it. And if you look at the states with the highest state income tax rates, most of them are blue. But here's my basic problem with this. I keep hearing everybody say, growth, growth.

But the top rate probably isn't going to come down, or much at all. And that's where the growth is. Those are the people that hire, those are the people that own small business, those are the people that spend. We still give a tech system and a way of explaining it that's rooted in class envy. We're going to give the middle class, lower middle class, upper middle class a break. But the rich, we're going to soak them. They don't need a tax break. They have got enough.

And besides, they say, we have to have a way to pay for it. What do you mean pay for? Why can't Washington do with less for once? We got growth from Reagan. I saw you talking about it last night. How? Top marginal rate over eight years went 70 to 28 percent. Look what happened. Why not do it again? The reason is everybody's afraid they'll lose votes in the middle class because there's far more of them than there are people in the upper bracket.

The top 10 percent are paying 70 percent of all the income taxes. And how can you say they're not paying their fair share? And why do we want to punish them further? If you really want growth, lower everybody's taxes across the board and get out of the way for all the revenues will be coming.

HANNITY: He is going to have a corporate tax. Trump wanted 15. It's going to be 20. Reconciliation kicks in so they say. But what's interesting is, all right, the corporate taxes reduced, their repatriation is good. You're right. New York, California, New Jersey, Illinois, they don't get to deduct -- I'm in New York. It's 10 percent.

LIMBAUGH: Right.

HANNITY: California is 13.5 percent.

LIMBAUGH: Exactly.

HANNITY: So, lower rate, they might have 39 to 35. But they'll pay more.

LIMBAUGH: They're going to be paying more. And here's, yes, I've talked to some very powerful people. I'm a powerful influential member of the media. I access to powerful people. And they're laying this all off on the President. They're up for bracket. No movement. And because they know when I talked to them that I'm going to interested across the board with everybody. Because they are the ones talking growth. They're not saying, we need to do this to generate revenue, they're saying, we need to do this to re-boost the economy.

Well, why are you going to leave out the people of higher? Why don't we use those people as role models, inspirations? It's typical class warfare. But anyway, the guy that I was talking to says, well, don't talk to me. The President is insisting, the President said that guys like him don't need a tax break. So, they're laying this all off on him. When I hear, "We have to find a way to pay for it." That is Washington establishment talk. That's Democrat talk, paying for tax cuts.

The first day it's presented is never going to be how it ends up, if they get a vote on it. There are some great things in this. Personal exemptions doubles, repatriation is good. But the thing that bothers me is that we still want to demonize and punish achievers.

HANNITY: I was excoriated for saying, I worked at restaurants since I was 12.

LIMBAUGH: Right.

HANNITY: I worked in construction for years. I was demonized for saying, I never got a job from a poor person, ever.

LIMBAUGH: Right. Well, see, you're not supposed to say those things. You're not supposed to say things that contradict the narrative, and narrative in -- which is all about getting reelected. It's all about trying to claim that they have things in common with the middle class, the downtrodden, and so forth. That's why I don't think it's really about growth. It's about politics and getting votes.

HANNITY: Let's talk about the Republican Party. We saw what happened with healthcare. Let's get your general impressions on healthcare. And I'm convinced there's a pretty significant percentage of Republicans in the Senate, they do not want this president to succeed.

LIMBAUGH: I agree with you. I think it goes further than that. I don't think they expected him to win. I think they thought Trump was going to lose. I think they thought that at 8:00 in election night. They weren't preparing to govern. They hadn't laid any plans for it. They have become accustomed to being the, quote, "loyal opposition" which means eventually caving and giving the Democrats what they want after putting up a good front.

Seven years is going to repeal and replace ObamaCare. But we can't do it unless you gave us the House. Can't do it until the Senate. Give them all of that. And you're right. They don't want to do it. I think that the voters come second. It's kind of like this NFL thing. The owners there have a real conundrum, real dilemma. Who do they choose? They choose loyalty with their players or their customers? That's a tough decision.

Well, Republicans in the Senate and the House, who do they choose, donors or voters? And I am choosing donors. The donors don't want major reform - - the donors want amnesty. The donors want comprehensive immigration reform. When it comes to healthcare, you could tell, for seven years, they passed bills with no problem. You could tell they didn't want to do it. You could tell they didn't want to repeal and replace it. They were just saying the words.

And they all have their own individual reasons, but I think it's donors influencing more than voters. We'll see. But this is an embarrassment. I mean, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that's being totally squandered. We're never going to have this chance.

HANNITY: You actually said that if they were smart, and all they would do is keep their promises, they would govern for generations.

LIMBAUGH: This is the deal. I really believe that, if for just three months going forward or if they had three months in the past, just three months, gut it up for three months and work with Trump on his agenda, on cutting taxes seriously across the board, immigration reform, the wall, what have you, getting rid of ObamaCare, which is just -- it's an absolute crime what has happened here and what that's going to mean to the country.

Just try for three months. Make it look like there's unity between the President and the people of his own party. And they would own Washington for a generation.

HANNITY: Uh-hm. I think you're right. I'm looking at the Republican Party. I think Trump has a strong identity. Ran on a platform, sticks to it. Every speech sounds just like his campaign speech. Where's the brilliant ideas? How many years on radio -- you talked about health savings accounts. We don't hear about that, how many times do we hear about the wall. I don't see them embracing strong ideas and going and selling them. Which I think they would win on the conservative --

LIMBAUGH: Look, there isn't much conservativism in the establishment. There are Republicans and Democrats, but it's basically people who are pro-government, pro-Washington, think government and Washington is the center of the world. They'll give occasional mentions of these things that you mention, these policy's to placate voters. But going back to an original question you had here, they don't want Trump to succeed with his agenda. They can't afford that. I'm not exaggerating here and trying to say things for a sound bite that Fox replays the rest of the day. They don't want five days rush.

(LAUGHTER)

They don't want -- they can't afford for him to succeed with his agenda. They can't afford it. The lid's blown. The gig is over. The joke is revealed. If an outsider with no prior political experience can come in and fix messes that people have been promised would be fixed for 30 years, how does that make them look? They can't allow that to happen.

(END VIDEO)

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: When we come back, more of my exclusive interview with Rush Limbaugh, he will weigh in on the NFL, the national anthem controversy, and Newt Gingrich, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: Welcome back to Hannity. As we report from Florida tonight. Rush Limbaugh has been one of the strongest voices against the NFL players protesting our flag, our national anthem. He is one of the NFL's biggest fan, here is what he had to say earlier tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

HANNITY: Let me go to the NFL. I want to read what you said because I've listened to you all the years you've been on radio, and you're probably the biggest NFL fan I've ever known. You love the Pittsburgh Steelers.

LIMBAUGH: I do.

HANNITY: You saw what happened in the Pittsburgh game. And you actually said that -- you pointed this out. It's bigger than life to you, the NFL. And for the first time in 45 years, you weren't excited and that the myth that you've always had about these players and the NFL is gone.

LIMBAUGH: Totally gone now.

HANNITY: Totally gone. You can't recover it?

LIMBAUGH: Well, maybe. I hope. See, that is the thing. I woke up Sunday morning after President made his comments in Alabama on Friday. I'm looking at the way the media's covering it. The left has hijacked the game. It used to be a respite. It used to be a place you go to escape all this. You think of the players, they can do things we can't do when they're performing at optimum level. It is just incredible to watch, the talents on display. To watch them get caught up into something that I don't think they understand. They're backtracking now. They try to say (inaudible), it's how it all got started. If they really wanted to make it (inaudible), if one of these players called you and said they want a half hour on your show, would you give it to them?

HANNITY: 100 percent.

LIMBAUGH: Why did they do that? Why are they messing around on the sideline, disrespecting the flag, disrespecting the anthem, what is the point, they're not accomplishing anything except harming the enterprise. Whatever is happening in the NFL right now it is not how you grow it.

HANNITY: You said if owners are clueless, this is about race. I think the most profound thing you said is they're now being used by the left in this country that wants to take away institutions and that the NFL is to the left.

LIMBAUGH: Saying this is risky, because, I firmly believe --

HANNITY: Don't get in trouble, go ahead.

LIMBAUGH: I am saying that people don't look -- when I say what I'm going to say, people are going to react, "come on, are you serious? "I just want to tell you I am. And this is why I'm so concerned. I do believe that the left wants to cause great damage to the NFL. What does the NFL stand for? Masculinity, strength, toughness. So what are they doing to it? You go to college campuses now and you'll find classes on how to take masculinity out of men. It's actually happening. It's patriotic. You've got the flag, anthem, uniformed military personnel. All the things that the left wants to erase from this country. They don't like displays of patriotism, strength, rugged individualism. And that is why the players are being used here. They think it's about police brutality, righting social wrongs. This is an attack on the NFL as an institution for shaking it down and lowering its profile and impact on American culture. We're in the midst of a culture war. Everybody knows it. The left does everything it can to erase elements of our country founding's and the traditions of institutions and they don't stop. So when I see the owners, they've got to be scared to death. On the one hand, if they side with their players, linking arms, go to the sideline, take a knee or whatever, that is just driving the central fan base away. I almost think that is part of the strategy. If you did want to damage the NFL, what would you do? You would do something to cause its fan base to leave it. What's happening?

HANNITY: This isn't the going to end well, is it?

LIMBAUGH: Well, I hope it does. See, I love this so much, that I live in constant optimism this can be overcome and we can get back to it. But the problem is, Sean, everybody in management, everybody in corporate America is under the false impression that this is a leftist liberal country. It isn't. It's made to look it because the media is and the media promotes it and the media narrative is that America has progressed and now conservatism is a minority. Everybody in corporate America thinks they need to find a way for people to pay them, their product or whatever. Look who advertise with the NFL? Ford, F-1, everything that supposedly causes climate change and the number one advertising in the NFL. Guys, beer. Who's being assaulted and attacked in all this? And the owners and the commissioner - - I don't know what their individual politics are. I don't think they understand what's happening to them. I don't think they understand. They think they're relating to the majority of their fan base. They're not. They're driving them away. And I hate it. I don't want the NFL to get smaller and become insignificant, be taken over by a bunch of wusses. I don't want it to be taken over by left-wing social justice causes. Use something besides the NFL sideline, the flag, something that people use to escape everything leftist.

HANNITY: (inaudible).

LIMBAUGH: I will give them hour on my show.

HANNITY: You hear that? Hours.

LIMBAUGH: Let's see if they take you up on it.

HANNITY: Tell me what you care about. I'll have a big debate. I'll do hour-long debates.

LIMBAUGH: You know what you're going to find?

HANNITY: What?

LIMBAUGH: I think Sean that a lot of these players really believe, hands up, don't shoot -- they really believe.

HANNITY: Never happen.

LIMBAUGH: It didn't happen, but the media says it did. And social justice warriors on the left, the civil rights community continue to say it did. You can't blame them if that is the only media they trust and watch. There's that aspect of it. There are also -- the police brutality overall that they think -- more blacks are killed in Chicago by other blacks.

HANNITY: Nobody talks about it.

LIMBAUGH: nobody talks about it. Because it doesn't fit the narrative. If they were really concerned about all of the horrible things happening to them or African-Americans it isn't happening in the NFL. 75 percent of the league is African-American and wealthy and love and adored and hero worshipped. It makes no sense. It saddens me. I loved it. I didn't watch football Sunday. I couldn't.

HANNITY: I watched college football.

LIMBAUGH: I'm not a big fan of that either because of cheap uniforms.

(LAUGHTER)

They do look not as flashy. I'm going to be playing golf on Sundays now. It's just not -- Sean, it's not the same. You're watching it and the media can't wait to tell us of all the discord.

HANNITY: They never show the fans booing.

LIMBAUGH: They'll show you the players dissing the flag.

HANNITY: Yes all over.

(END VIDEO)

HANNITY: All right, we're just getting started. We will have part two of our interview with Rush exclusive tomorrow. But when we come back, Newt Gingrich with weigh in on congress, the NFL, and much more, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: And welcome back to Hannity. Joining us now, the author of the number-one New York Times best seller "Understanding Trump," and he has a new online course that tells us about Fox News Contributor, Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. By the way his online course is entitled "Defending America." It is up on my website hannity.com Mr. Speaker good to see you. You know I think back, and I was with Rush today. And he played a very integral part in 1994 when you brought the Republicans to congress for the first time in 40 years, the contract with America. When I was thinking as I was interviewing him today, you kept your promises and you made a difference. You balanced the budget, welfare reform. You had major transformative things happen. Rush is saying three months, if they just get their backbones stronger.

NEWT GINGRICH, R-FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: First of all, it was great to watch him tonight on your show, first time I've seen him on TV in a long time. You're exactly right. I think without Rush, we might not have won in 1994. He was the clear voice for millions of conservatives all across the country, many of whom would stay in their car to listen to the last half hour. Rush has had a remarkable historic impact on the country. His instincts are as good as they ever were. He analyzes things from angles nobody else can match. It was great of you to have him on tonight.

HANNITY: Listen, there's no doubt he understands the left and conservatism has a great take on it. But I want us to focus a little bit more on -- he sort of laid out a challenge, I felt, to the Republicans. For three months, just stick to your agenda. Suck it up. Let's get these things done. You guys made these promises. They can literally govern for generations. And I agree with him.

GINGRICH: I agree. Look, I brought a prop tonight. I don't usually do this. You know that. This is the Paul Ryan postcard income tax return. Their estimate is that 85 percent of the people who currently are itemizing, under the new Republican tax cuts, this is all they'll fill out, which will give them a second tax cut of all the money they're currently spending to get some tax preparer. It saves literally billions of additional dollars. But here is the simple test, if by thanksgiving, the Paul Ryan income tax postcard becomes law, I think you're going to find out that they are doing exactly what Rush suggested. This is visible. It applies to virtually every average American. It is clear. They're going to be producing these, so that everybody can have a copy. You can show your friends and neighbors, and you can ask them, "you want to keep the current system with its swamp-like complexity, with the requirement for accountants and tax lawyers and tax preparer or do you want to go to a very simple lower-cost system that both saves you money on taxes and saves you money on preparation? I think this is the start of what Rush is talking about.

HANNITY: You know I remember every interview. And I was in Atlanta at the time. And every interview you did leading up to the election in '94. You would go into your pocket and pull out the contract of America. The only really big criticism I have, and it's kind of laughable in a way, because the blue states deserve the government they voted for and put in power, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, California, you elect your politicians and your 10, 12, 13 percent state income tax, it's not going to be deductible. And by the way, I'm going to get punished, but that is fine. In a lot of ways, it's interesting, because you can analyze it two way. The rest of the country's been subsidizing them. Because their states punish them and Paul Ryan made this point last night. Your thoughts.

GINGRICH: Well, first of all, let me come back to this. I would urge every Republican in the country, just as I used to pull out the contract, pull out the Paul Ryan postcard and ask your constituents. But here's the second thing. For most of the people on Long Island, by the way, maybe not you, you've done really, really well. But for most people, by the time you get to double the deduction and you get to lower the rates, the number of people in New York who are going to need some kind of deduction for state and local taxes is going to drop dramatically. So actually for the average everyday working guy, they are not going to notice it, because they're getting a great tax cut. And if you throw in the amount they save from not needing a preparer, they're going to be much better off. If you're a rich guy, all the liberal Democrats tell us they want to soak the rich, guess what, they're the ones in the blue states that are about to start screaming, because you have to be pretty darn wealthy to be affected by not having the state and local taxes. And I have to say as a conservative, I'm not that sympathetic.

HANNITY: Yes.

GINGRICH: I'm not very sympathetic when Liberal Democrats show up and go, "oh, gosh." you all remember, Florida is only an airplane away.

HANNITY: All I need is six months and a day and I'm a resident of Florida. Those are the rules. With all that said, this is where my job is. I'm in Florida today. But it works just as good in Florida. Satellite is great technology. All right. So here is the next important question. What are the Republicans need to do? I think a couple of things, I think energy is a big job, I like this plan that the President proposed. He is sticking to his campaign promise promises. They better have amnesty. They might go back to healthcare in January or February. They really need to. Not the Schumer-Patty plan. Your thoughts?

GINGRICH: Well, look, I want to be very simple-minded because I used to do this for a living. They ought to focus from now to thanksgiving on one thing, get the tax cuts passed. If they have a signing ceremony the week before thanksgiving, if American businesses go from one of the highest tax rates in the world to a really competitive tax rate, if we bring back trillions from overseas, then they've had a good fall.

HANNITY: All right. Mr. Speaker we are going to watch and hold them accountable. When we come back, a question I don't think Rush was ready for. We'll give you a preview. You want to see this next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: Welcome back to Hannity. Tomorrow we have part two of my exclusive interview with Rush Limbaugh, including his answer to this question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: My last question, you're going to hate this question. And so, I'm giving you the heads up. You're not going to like this question. Your TV show is a big hit. When you come on TV, people want to hear from you. You have the highest rated nationally syndicated radio show in the country. Huge audiences, people who listen all sorts of ways. I think people would like to see you on TV.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Rush, the question I posed him. Tune in tomorrow night, part two. We'll have a lot more of that interview straight ahead 9:00 Eastern on our new time. We'll also ask Rush about deep-state leaks ObamCare, and so much more. As always thank you for being with us. The show will always be fair and balanced. Dana Perino is next. I will see you tomorrow.

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