Limbaugh flip-flopped, claimed Gannon's question was an "accurate recitation" of Sen. Reid
Days after bragging that a quote he fabricated had surfaced in a question Talon News Washington bureau chief and White House correspondent Jeff Gannon asked of President Bush at a January 26 White House press conference, nationally syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh asserted that Gannon's question was "accurate."
Gannon asked Bush: "
ow are you going to work with people who seem to have divorced themselves from reality?" prefacing the question with the assertion that Senate Minority Leader "Harry Reid was talking about soup lines." On Limbaugh's radio show the same day, Limbaugh bragged that he had inspired Gannon's question, while acknowledging that Reid "never actually said 'soup lines.'" But on the February 2 edition of his radio show, Limbaugh declared that the question -- which also referenced Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) -- "was an accurate recitation of what the Senate Democrat leaders had said." Similarly, on February 4, Limbaugh declared that Gannon "dared to ask questions accurately quoting Senate Democrat leaders."
From the January 26 edition of The Rush Limbaugh Show:
LIMBAUGH: hat makes me think that the reporter was listening to the program is that Harry Reid never actually said "soup lines." That is my characterization of their portrayal of America. He never actually said it. He just describes circumstances reminiscent of soup lines. ... Uh, Harry Reid never said "soup lines." That's my term for the simple way to characterize the Democrats' view of America or vision of America. They look out there and they see 1930s soup lines all over the place, but Dusty Harry never actually said that yesterday, but the reporter attributed it to him -- and I'm not angry about this at all, folks! I'm flattered and honored and proud to have a point made by this program represented in the press conference today and asked by a reporter.
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