Talker Michael Savage Says Rush Limbaugh Is 'Lying'

Illustration: Sraha Grillo/Axios

Talk radio host Rush Limbaugh is “lying” about the efficacy of the nationwide lockdown in diminishing the spread of coronavirus, his industry colleague Michael Savage said on Monday.

how can LIMBAUGH continue to lie and say 'we dont know if the lockdowns are working' WHEN WE KNOW FOR A FACT THAT CHURCH GROUPS AND JEWISH GROUPS WHO REFUSED TO COMPLY BECAME HIGHLY INFECTED? Are there no standards in the media? no consequences for endangering lives?

— Michael Savage (@ASavageNation) April 20, 2020

Mediaite reports Limbaugh has been vocal in criticizing the scope of government shutdowns around the country. “It’s not normal to stay cooped up at home and have your livelihood taken away from you. It is not normal to just sit there in a docile state and accept it. It just isn’t normal,” he said during his April 17 broadcast.

“They’re gonna look at nothing in the refrigerator, and they’re gonna look at nothing to pay the rent with,” he added. “These are real-world things, real-world realities. There’s nothing theoretical about this anymore. It’s undoable. It’s unsustainable. And the people that still have income coming in, people that still have financial reserves to rely on making policy for people who have none, ain’t gonna fly. So it only stands to reason that the American people … will decide when this lockdown is over.”

Savage, a conservative radio host who holds a Ph.D. in nutritional ethnomedicine, has criticized prominent right wing radio rivals, including Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, for downplaying the threat posed by coronavirus.

The New York Times published an April 16 story highlighting Savage’s criticism, which has led to newfound reverence for Savage from the left and criticism from conservatives. Fellow conservative syndicated talk radio host Mark Levin referred to Savage as “left-wing media’s useful idiot” in a tweet sharing the story, while the conservative Media Research Center’s Newsbusters noted, “He’s gone from persona non grata to media darling.”