Rush Limbaugh dies: Radio and TV host who was the provocative voice of conservative America was 70

The New York Times

Limbaugh died one year after announcing he had advanced lung cancer, which led then-President Trump to honor him the next day with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, during the State of the Union address. "Blisteringly sarcastic, often hilarious, always pugnacious, Mr. Limbaugh was a partisan force of nature, reviled by critics and admired by millions, a master of three-hour monologues that featured wicked impersonations, slashing mockery, musical parodies and a rogue’s gallery of fools, knaves, liars and bleeding hearts," Robert D. McFadden writes in Limbaugh's New York Times obituary. While best known for his radio talk show, Limbaugh was host of the Roger Ailes-produced The Rush Limbaugh Show, a TV show taped in front of a live studio audience, from 1992 to 1996 that coincided with Bill Clinton's rise to the presidency. In 1990, Limbaugh guest-hosted CBS' late-night The Pat Sajak Show, where ACT UP activists heckled him repeatedly, resulting in the clearing out of the audience. Limbaugh played himself in a 1994 episode of the Linda Bloodworth-Thomason CBS comedy Hearts Afire and a 1998 episode of The Drew Carey Show. In 2003, Limbaugh served as an analyst on ESPN's Sunday Night Football Countdown, but was forced to resign in October after making offensive comments about QB Donovan McNabb.