Bill To Create ‘Rush Limbaugh Day’ Approved By Missouri’s GOP-Led House
Missouri’s Republican-led House of Representatives has recently passed a legislation honoring Rush Limbaugh, the late conservative radio host, by celebrating him on his birthday every year.
Limbaugh, who was born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, died of lung cancer complications last February at the age of 70.
The proposal, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, would designate every January 12 as “Rush Limbaugh Day” in Missouri, adding that “the bill must gain approval from the Senate before the end of the legislative session next Friday.”
GOP-led Missouri lawmakers approved legislation Thursday to honor late radio host and native son Rush Limbaugh, ensuring his January 12 birthday will now be remembered annually. https://t.co/8UooU8JcwL
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) May 9, 2021
The state Senate is also held dominantly by Republicans.
The vote came after a failed “Democratic-led attempt to declare Jan. 13 as ‘Walter Cronkite Day,’ in honor of the Missouri resident and broadcast journalist who anchored the CBS Evening News,” according to the local outlet.
“Rush Limbaugh’s contributions to broadcasting and the conservative movement cannot be overstated. He was, simply put, a legend who cannot be replaced,” said state Rep. Hardy Billington, a Republican who sponsored the measure, had said.
“This is one way we can recognize the outstanding impact Rush Limbaugh has had on our state and country,” he added.
Opposition from Democrats?
Rep. Ashley Bland Manlove of Kansas City, who released a statement accusing the late film icon of “constant assaults on Black people and other people of color,” spoke out against Limbaugh receiving an official state designation.
She claimed that Billington had tacked the idea onto a larger bill that addressed a number of official designations — including honoring famous black Missourians and creating a day to commemorate random acts of kindness.
Democrats “cited decades of racist, misogynistic, and homophobic comments by Limbaugh as excuses he should not be honored,” the Post-Dispatch report added.
“Have you ever heard him say any negative things on the radio about any race or another?” Billington was allegedly questioned by Raytown Democrat Rep. Jerome Barnes in light of the proposal.
State Representative Hardy Billington (R-Poplar Bluff) filed House Bill 1200 on Friday, February 19 to memorialize Rush Limbaugh on January 12 each year. The conservative icon passed away earlier this week at age 70>> https://t.co/ulUMsDwSln
— Region 8 News (@Region8News) February 20, 2021
To which, Billington reportedly replied: “To me, he had been an outstanding deal; he had done so many great things.”
“Now I think I told you before he probably had not been perfect by no means of the imagination but he had done an outstanding job.”
Former President Donald Trump earlier awarded the conservative radio icon with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the 2020 State of the Union following Limbaugh revealing to the world that he had been diagnosed with cancer.
BREAKING: Former President Trump Reacts to the Death of Rush Limbaugh Live on Air pic.twitter.com/iBmchjBGfI
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) February 17, 2021
In announcing his cancer diagnosis, Limbaugh noted spoke about the importance of being thankful for life saying that everyone has “an expiration date.”
Limbaugh has been tagged as a “tireless voice for freedom and the conservative movement.” In the wake of his death earlier this year, former President Trump also described the radio host as someone who “had an incredible instinct for politics and he had an incredible instinct for life.”
The former Republican chief executive also said that Limbaugh is a “great man.”
