Longtime conservative commentator and radio show host Rush Limbaugh has died at the age of 70, his wife announced Wednesday on his program. Limbaugh had been receiving treatment for lung cancer. A statement posted to his website stated, “In loving memory of Rush Hudson Limbaugh III, the greatest of all time.”
Limbaugh, who has long been considered one of the country’s top conservative pundits and Republican supporters, received the Presidential Medial of Freedom from President Donald Trump last year. He announced that he had terminal lung cancer last fall.
Several prominent Republican politicians praised Limbaugh upon news of his death Wednesday. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul tweeted, “RIP to a legend and a patriot. Not many people can say they revolutionized and stayed at the top of an industry the way he did.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said, “Rush is the [greatest of all time] of radio, of conservative media and of inspiring a loyal army of American patriots.”
Limbaugh began his radio career in 1971 at age 20 as a disc jockey at Pennsylvania station WIXZ. He launched an afternoon radio show in Kansas City four years later, followed by stops in Sacramento and New York City before his “The Rush Limbaugh Show” went into syndication.