On Friday, controversial talk radio host Rush Limbaugh offered an evidence-free theory about an alleged cabal of Democratic Party-supporting intelligence officials and their sinister plans to destroy Republican presidents, reports The Hill .
According to Limbaugh, much like President Donald Trump , former President George W. Bush was not popular among deep state operatives — who preferred Bush’s Democratic opponent Al Gore — so they pushed him to invade Iraq.
“I think there was as much resentment in the deep state — we just didn’t call it that then — for George W. Bush as there is today for Donald Trump, and if not the same, it’s close,” he said.
According to Limbaugh, Democrats and deep state operatives planted fake evidence of weapons of mass destruction to convince Bush to invade Iraq, just like they made up evidence about Trump’s alleged ties to the Russian government. According to Limbaugh, a coup is being organized against the president.
“I have seen what this bunch of people in the intelligence community are capable of. What they’ve tried with Trump here, this whole Russia meddling, Trump colluding? This whole thing is a gigantic lie, a totally bogus hoax, a silent coup. That’s when I began to think the weapons of mass destruction thing was a setup against Bush, too.”
Limbaugh also opined this cabal of intelligence officials supportive of the Democratic Party “didn’t get” the 2012 Benghazi attack against two U.S. government facilities in Libya “right.”
As The Hill notes, Limbaugh was a strong supporter of the Iraq war. In 2006, after it long became obvious that the country did not have weapons of mass destruction, he announced a plan to uncover the real truth about the alleged weapons, suggesting that Democrats and the media were ignoring evidence.
U.S. forces were re-deployed to Iraq in 2014. Five thousand American troops are currently stationed there, according to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Limbaugh recently stirred up controversy after launching an attack on Democratic presidential candidate and former mayor of South Bend, Indiana Pete Buttigieg. The host said that Trump would “have fun” running against Buttigieg, an openly gay man, stating that Americans are not ready to vote for a gay presidential candidate who kisses his husband on the debate stage.
The attack came only days after Trump awarded Limbaugh with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the country. Other White House hopefuls were quick to jump to Buttigieg’s defense. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts blasted both Limbaugh and Trump, suggesting that the president encourages bigotry.