Rush Limbaugh Says on Air That He Has Advanced Lung Cancer: 'I Wish I Didn't Have to Tell You This'
Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh said while on the air Monday that he was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer last month will miss some upcoming recordings because he will be receiving or recovering from treatment.
“I wish I didn’t have to tell you this and I thought about not telling anybody,” he said on Monday’s show. “I thought about trying to do this without anybody knowing ‘cause I don’t like making things about me.”
Limbaugh said that he “first realized something was wrong on my birthday weekend,” on Jan. 12, and his diagnosis was later confirmed on Jan. 20.
“The worst thing that can happen is when there is something going on and you try to hide it and cover it up, it’s eventually going to leak and then people are going — ‘Why didn’t you just say it, why’d you try to fool everybody?’ ” he said Monday. “And it’s not that I want to fool anybody. It’s just that I don’t want to burden anybody with it and I haven’t wanted to.”
Reporter Doug Turnbull tweeted Limbaugh said on his show that he “had shortness of breath earlier last month, which led to [his] diagnosis.”
Prayers for @rushlimbaugh. No one has been a stronger or more effective warrior for the conservative cause and for the future of our country. No one has had a bigger impact.
We’re in this fight with you, Rush. 🙏— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) February 3, 2020
My heart and prayers go out to Rush Limbaugh, who has been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer.
He has inspired a generation to enter politics, including myself.
We are fighting with you, Rush!!!
pic.twitter.com/cIKbFed6n6— Kayleigh McEnany (@kayleighmcenany) February 3, 2020
Limbaugh rose to national fame during the advent of conservative talk radio in the ’90s. His provocative style has drawn his share of controversy in the past.
In 2010 he married Kathryn Rogers, his fourth bride, in Palm Beach, Florida, where an unlikely guest — Elton John — serenaded them.
On Monday, in keeping with his reputation as the “mayor of Realville,” he took a lighter tone in talking about his health.
RELATED: Elton John ‘a Little Surprised’ at Rush Limbaugh Wedding Invite
“It is what it is,” Limbaugh told his listeners, adding, “So this has happened and my intention is to come here every day I can and to do this program as normally and as competently and as expertly as I do each and every day, because that is the source of my greatest satisfaction, professionally, personally.”
Following news of his lung cancer diagnosis, many posted well wishes online for Limbaugh, including former Vice President Dick Cheney‘s daughter Liz Cheney and Kayleigh McEnany, a spokeswoman for President Donald Trump‘s re-election campaign.
“We’re in this fight with you, Rush,” Liz wrote.
A rep for Limbaugh could not immediately be reached for comment.
