Limbaugh guest host Mark Steyn recalls Rush's connection with his audience

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Limbaugh guest host recalls Rush's connection with his audience

Mark Steyn tells 'Tucker Carlson Tonight' about late radio titan's 'incredible' reach

This is a rush transcript from "Tucker Carlson Tonight," February 17, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST: Good evening and welcome to TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT. 

Rush Limbaugh passed away today as you've doubtless heard. He had just turned 70 last month. There are people, literally millions of people who listen to Rush Limbaugh faithfully every day for 30 years. Some of them cried when they heard the news. 

Others on the internet gloated, revealing the depth of their cruelty and soullessness. We're going to ignore them tonight. They have too much influence over our culture already. 

Instead, we're going to tell you about Rush Limbaugh, what he did and why he mattered. Limbaugh was a profoundly talented broadcaster, but that's not why he endured for generations and singlehandedly reshaped the media business, which he did. 

Rush Limbaugh actually believed things and he believed them with sincerity, that was his secret. What he believed most of all was that America is a good and decent place and worth preserving. Here he is in 2009, explaining what he believes about America. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) 

RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: As human beings, we're no different than the human beings anywhere else in the world and there have been families, clubs, countries, thousands of years on this planet longer than we have. We're barely 250 years old and we have out done everybody in almost everything that lives, it raises the standard of living in the history of the world. 

It's not because our DNA is different, it is not because we're special human beings, it is because of our freedom. It's because of the founding documents and those rights that we have, where they come from. 

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

CARLSON: The founding documents. He had actually read them, he really believed them. He wasn't just saying it, and that was obvious when he spoke. 

That was a threat to the people who want it to be more powerful than the Constitution allows, so they tried to silence him. We think of corporate censorship as a new phenomenon, but Rush Limbaugh was fighting it 30 years ago and winning. 

Here he is on "60 Minutes" in 1991. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) 

LIMBAUGH: I think I just happen to be saying what a whole lot of people think that don't have the chance to say themselves. That's why they call me the most dangerous man in America. Somebody is finally saying this stuff. 

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

CARLSON: The most dangerous man in America, that's what they called him, that's what they call you when you're brave enough to tell the truth. 

Few people are better qualified to assess Rush Limbaugh's life than his friend and frequent guest host, Mark Steyn. 

Mark wrote a beautiful tribute to Rush Limbaugh today in his website, which is well worth reading, and we hope that you will read it. 

Here is part of it for perspective on his life, quote: "Usually in this line of work, if you're lucky, you get a moment, a year or two, when you're the in-thing and you hope to hold enough of that moment as it slowly fades until you retire. Rush did something unprecedented in the history of TV and radio." 

"Commercial broadcasting began in the United States in 1920. 'The Rush Limbaugh Show' came along two thirds of a century later, became number one very quickly, and it stayed at the top all the way to today, for a third of the entire history of the medium." 

That's remarkable. Rush Limbaugh was a remarkable man. He lived a life that mattered. 

Mark Steyn joins us now to remember Rush Limbaugh. 

Mark, thanks for coming on. Thanks for the piece that you wrote for him today, which was really, really a piece of writing. 

So you knew him. You knew him for a long time. You worked with him. You were his fill-in host. How would you assess him standing back? 

MARK STEYN, AUTHOR AND COLUMNIST: Well, he was a brilliant broadcaster. I wrote today about the first time I ever heard him, just driving through the North Maine Woods when there's no radio stations available, and suddenly this voice came in from out of nowhere and started -- it wasn't what he was talking about, it was how he talked about it. 

And he made politics fun and he brought in all the elements. He'd had 20 years as a not terribly successful disc jockey in which he'd honed his craft and so he was able to use humor, he was able to use parody songs. And he was -- he was brilliant at it, he was better than anybody. And that's apart from anything else, that's what made him totally secure. 

He had no fear that any of the talents who came along after him would ever surpass him because he was simply the best. He invented this form that 30 something years ago, he and Kit Carson were talking about this and that Kit was his Chief of Staff for decades, and Kit didn't start out that way. He was just the guy working in the station. 

And he handed Rush a couple of kind of unimportant stories that day and at the end of the show, Rush said, "Do you have any more stuff like that?" And so that began the format of the show where you didn't just talk about what Mitch McConnell or Nancy Pelosi was doing, he had all -- he had all these other stories in which there was some little aspect of it that reflected on the grand comedy alive. 

I guest hosted for him yesterday and there was a story there about 30 Taliban members had died during bomb-making class in an Afghan mosque. They got a little ahead of themselves and actually blown themselves sky high. It's a Taliban workplace accident. 

And it's not a big story, it's not an important story, butt Rush understood that the -- that the great cavalcade of life, all these things factored it. 

Nobody -- everybody does that format now and nobody did until he invented it. And as you just said, he did that for a third of a century, which is incredible. 

CARLSON: You made a point in the piece today, which I didn't really appreciate, since I didn't work with him that the people who did work with him tended to work with him for decades. And it seemed revealing of his character. 

STEYN: Right. 

CARLSON: We've heard a lot of people who try to assess who he was as a man. You've seen a lot of people try to impugn his character. What does that tell you about him? 

STEYN: Well, I think he was a -- he was a fantastic employer and a brilliant friend to many, many people and that's why people came and joined the EIB network. You and I both know, there are big name celebrities who can't keep a secretary for six weeks. 

CARLSON: Yes. 

STEYN: Rush was never one of those people. 

CARLSON: Yes, we know quite a few. 

STEYN: Yes, everybody does. And instead, people came -- people came to the EIB network and they never left. I never -- I never really realized how big the show was, until I think this was -- I had guest hosted is it three times, and then the following day, I took my little girl to a horse riding event, point to point, somewhere over the river for me in New Hampshire, in Vermont and we got there a little early. 

And she said to me, can we go to the concession stand? A little truck in the middle of the field. And I said -- she had turned vegetarian, you know, a couple of weeks earlier -- and I said, we'll have a hotdog, and a veggie burger, a coffee and a bottle of water. 

And he said, "You sound just like that guy who gets hosts for Rush." And it was -- I was amazed. I said had said a dozen words to the guy and I'd only guest hosted the show three times and I was suddenly -- and I used to before they were kind enough to build a studio for me, I used to go and guest hosted at a local affiliate in New Hampshire. 

And it was interesting to me, because the owner, when I'd be doing the show is like a tiny and cramped studio and the owner would bring in, you know, the owner of Bud's Chevrolet, and the lady at Darlene's Diner and all of these big advertisers not because I was there, but because "The Rush Limbaugh Show" was there. 

He was beloved in a way that I don't think -- radio is a very intimate medium. You know, you're driving around in your truck. And it's like the guy is in your head for three hours. 

But Rush had a connection beyond that, I had a couple of guys working at my house for months, as is the New Hampshire way and every day at 11:59, they would hang the transistor radio on the chimney and blast -- they would sit up on the roof listening to -- listening to Rush. Nobody wanted to miss that. Incredible. Nothing like it. 

CARLSON: There is nothing like it, and you want -- and you have this amazing vignette in your remembrance of him today where you're talking to the Prime Minister of Australia, in Australia, and he says, "Well, why are you going back to the U.S.?" He you said, "I'm guest hosting for Rush Limbaugh." And he says, "Well, that's a big show," and you give the audience numbers. He says, "That's more than there are Australians." 

Will there ever be anybody with this -- with that kind of reach in mass media ever again, do you think? 

STEYN: I can't imagine it because actually, if Rush listeners were a nation, they would actually be one of the biggest and most powerful nations on Earth, which is some consolation. 

He told me a lot. You know, he was totally -- the very last words he said on air, which are a kind of embarrassment to me, because the last few weeks, he's had to have guest hosts standing by in case he falters in the second hour and can't complete the show. 

And so he said at the end of his very last show, he said, "Thank you, Mr. Steyn. We'll see you next time." And there was no next time, but I was embarrassed about the, "Thank you, Mr. Steyn," because I thought the coolest thing was to be, which he always used to do, he used to insult the guest host. 

So if he knew I was coming in on Wednesday, on Tuesday, he'd puts you down. It was the coolest thing in the world to be put down by Rush. 

And what he told me about that and many other things was he was completely secure. About a decade ago, he had some heart problems on vacation in Hawaii and there's all this evil stuff on the internet, on Twitter, which was young then, "Die, Rush. Just die," and he didn't care. It washed off him. 

He was totally secure. He knew he was absolutely the best at what he did and he told a lot of us to be as secure as he was. I owe him everything in that respect. 

CARLSON: You ended your column today with, "Talent returned to God," which I thought was wonderful. Mark Steyn, thank you. 

STEYN: Thanks a lot, Tucker. 

CARLSON: So one of the remarkable things about Rush Limbaugh is that he endured in the face of organized efforts to pull them off the air for 30 years, relentless attempts. 

And as Mark just said, they washed off him and he kept going, how did he do that exactly? 

Brian Glicklich was at the center of a lot of that, almost all of it. He was Rush's spokesman. He worked with him for years. He joins us tonight to explain how did Rush Limbaugh stay on the air? 

Brian, thanks so much for coming on tonight. 

BRIAN GLICKLICH, FORMER RUSH LIMBAUGH SPOKESPERSON: Thank you. Thank you, Tucker. 

CARLSON: How did you guys pull that off? 

GLICKLICH: You know, it was all about Rush. He had a backbone that was made of iron and he was not willing to let himself be redefined by what his opponents thought about him. 

He gave us direction to stay the course, keep doing what we were doing and never give in to what the opposition says. He understood the nature of their business model better than anyone, which was basically to lie about the right, because the right was optimistic. The right had an idea and the left really didn't. 

So he told us to do that, and no matter what the opposition did, we just kept on. 

CARLSON: One of the lowest things I've ever seen ever, in public conversations, so when Rush Limbaugh became dependent on prescription painkillers, a lot of people struggle with that. Many people I know, you know, a lot of us have struggled with addiction, and he overcame it, which struck me as such an inspiring and wonderful thing and it made him a deeper person. 

He was attacked for that, and I remember thinking at the time, how does he keep that from warping him internally? It's so vicious, how did he stay steady and calm and secure in the face of that? 

GLICKLICH: He was -- he was grateful for the opportunity to recover from the addiction that he suffered from. And I think he learned a lot in the process of doing that. 

You know, he privately reached out to all sorts of people with addictions, over the balance of his career, when there'd be a news story about somebody who was suffering from an addiction, he would quietly and privately offer them support. 

And, you know, he just understood that he believed what he believed and that's what he brought forth on the air every day. 

CARLSON: So in private, he helped people struggling with this thing he had been attacked for having. I didn't know that, I'm not surprised by it. But I'm glad that you brought that to light because I think that's really revealing. Amazing -- 

GLICKLICH: And he did it independent of their politics. Any number of them were people that their politics were directly opposed to what he believed, he just didn't care. He knew there were some unifying ideas that reach across politics, just to the nature of being human. 

CARLSON: Yes, like our common humanity, above all. He was a tough man in the best way. Brian, great to see you tonight. Thank you for that. 

GLICKLICH: Thank you. Thank you. 

CARLSON: Our friend, Glenn Beck joins us later in the show. He knew Rush Limbaugh well. He has been in this business an awful long time. You'll see him in a second. 

There's also news that Chris Cuomo, over on CNN could face consequences tonight. That's interesting, so we'll bring it to you. Also, we have a major announcement for you and that's coming, too. 

We'll be right back. 

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) 

CARLSON: Well, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was finally caught hiding relevant and public information on nursing home deaths in his state, deaths that he made possible by his policies. 

Now for the first time, there are signs that Governor Cuomo may be facing some serious consequences for what he did. FOX's Trace Gallagher is on that story for us tonight. Hey, Trace. 

TRACE GALLAGHER, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT: Hey Tucker, this new reporting comes from the "Albany Times Union" which is a primary news source for the New York State Capitol saying the F.B.I. and U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn, that's the Eastern District of New York have now launched an investigation examining the actions of Governor Andrew Cuomo's Coronavirus Taskforce and its handling of nursing homes during the pandemic. 

Now remember, three weeks after that taskforce was put together last year, the state mandated that nursing homes must accept residents being discharged from hospitals even if they were still positive for COVID-19. 

The New York Attorney General has now said nursing home deaths were severely underreported by the State and Governor Cuomo's top aide has admitted withholding information from lawmakers, but here are the unknowns of this breaking news. 

Why is this probe coming from the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn instead of the Northern District, which is a two minute walk from the State Capitol Building? And are these Coronavirus Taskforce members being interviewed or subpoenaed? 

The U.S. Attorney's Office won't comment and Governor Cuomo's office will only say they are fully cooperating with what we do not know. 

Finally also breaking tonight, CNN now says Chris Cuomo is not allowed to cover his brother. Period. And that the multiple interviews they did together last year almost nightly was just an exception -- Tucker. 

CARLSON: Just an exemption. Amazing. Trace, great to see you. Thank you. 

GALLAGHER: Yes. 

CARLSON: Well, speaking of CNN, Joe Biden was over there last night for a Town Hall. Did you see it? If you didn't -- if you didn't catch it, you might not be alone. It's not clear that Joe Biden caught it. 

At one point, the poor guy lost track of where he was and nearly walked right into the moderator. That was more than a social distancing violation, it was almost a head on collision. There's some nervous laughter in the audience, but CNN didn't care. 

That's because when Biden finally got his whereabouts under control, he delivered exactly the message the network wanted him to deliver: white supremacy is the problem, he told us. It's a wide ranging threat. It's the main problem. 

You've heard that so often that it probably doesn't register anymore. Every day, there is some KKK terrorist out there lying in wait. Where's the plot? Of course, they don't tell you where the plot is. But every moment the terrorists don't strike is just proof they are planning something even bigger and more sinister. 

There's no evidence this is true. They're creating extremism by the way, by saying it, they seem to be pushing for it. It's crazy -- crazier than the Russia hoax, it is dangerous. 

This isn't just about taking down Mike Flynn or George Papadopoulos. It's dividing the country against itself. It is impugning people with the worst slur they have. And now, it's being used as a pretext to marshal the force of the state against its own people. Nancy Pelosi is leading that effort. 

She has just announced that someone called retired General Russel Honore of Louisiana, will be leading a security review of what happened on January 6th, of the riot. Nancy Pelosi says General Honore has been, quote: "Assessing our security needs by reviewing what happened on January 6th, and how we must ensure that it does not happen again." 

But that's not right. General Honore already has come to conclusions about what happened on January 6th. He has been very public about that and you should know what those conclusions are and what kind of person he is. 

Just because his title is "General" doesn't mean that he is sane, or not a wild-eyed partisan. 

On the day after the Capitol Riot, Honore suggested it was an inside job, and that the Sergeant-at-Arms might be implicated in the plot. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) 

LT. GEN. RUSSEL HONORE (RET), U.S. ARMY: There was complicit actions that the Capitol Police, a Police Chief has been fired, but now we need to look at a special investigation, was he complicit along with the Sergeant-of- Arms in the House and the Senate? 

It gives appearance of complicity. He complied because they might have thought 45 was coming to the Capitol and they gave way to the protesters who easily breached the Capitol. This is a crying damn shame. 

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

CARLSON: What? Speaking of misinformation and conspiracy theories, there's no evidence for any of that. It's all made up. It's crazy. But he went on. 

In a radio interview that same day, General Honore explained that conservatives on the Capitol Police Force were to blame when he was asked about what happened with security. Watch this. 

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP) 

HONORE: By a percentage, 30 to 40 percent of the line officers are Trumpsters. 

JOE MADISON, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: All right, I got it. 

HONORE: That's a fact, Jack. 

(END AUDIO CLIP) 

CARLSON: How would he know that? Well, of course, he doesn't know that. He doesn't have any idea and who you voted for is irrelevant. These are sworn peace officers. They're doing their job, but General Honore has decided to attack them on the basis of speculation about their political beliefs. 

There is a problem that this guy would be in charge of anything, and that problem goes beyond General Honore prejudging what happened at the Capitol on the basis of no knowledge. 

Like so many of our country's ex-generals, this guy is an authoritarian and an unhinged one. He understands how to use force to achieve political objectives and it seems like he is being set up to use his military training against anyone who sees the world differently than he does. 

They'll be reclassified as domestic terrorists. Who are these people and what threat to the pose? Well, according to General Honore, those threats include the Constitution and our Second Amendment. For real. 

He believes your right to defend yourself is dangerous. He said that and we're quoting here, quote: "We can't permit Second Amendment rights at First Amendment protests." Really? Constitutional scholar, are you? 

Imagine a public figure with a General in front of his name making that statement? This is the guy Nancy Pelosi wants in charge of security. 

Honore unraised not a fan of the First Amendment either, by the way. On Twitter, he attacked this network. He even told people to stop buying the - - we can't use it -- profanity, the crappy stocks of any company that advertises on FOX News, talking about the stock price of advertisers. 

He retweeted posts accusing the social media site, Parler, of being -- and we're quoting now, "100 percent complicit in the January 6th riot." This is the guy. 

It is like putting Joy Reid in charge of security. This is insane. 

John Honore believes that elected Members of Congress, people like U.S. Representative Lauren Boebert shouldn't be allowed to fly on commercial aircraft because of her political views, quote, "Put her on a no fly list." 

He said something similar about Senator Josh Hawley, the Senator from Missouri, quote, "This little piece of crap with his Yale Law degree should be run out of D.C. and disbarred ASAP." Run out of D.C.? Really? What do you mean by that? 

Run out of D.C. and disbarred? This is crazy. 

But this is the guy Nancy Pelosi has leading the security response to the Capitol riot. This should really worry you. Is this really about what happened in the Capitol on January 6th? No. It's about you and your rights, rights that people like General Honore and Nancy Pelosi view as the greatest threat of all. 

Josh Hawley was singled out by this man. He joins us now to respond. Senator, I appreciate your coming on tonight. This makes me genuinely nervous that someone like this could have any control over the so-called security at the U.S. Capitol or in Washington or in America. 

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): Yes, it's very disturbing, Tucker, I mean some of the statements that the General has made are just downright crazy. You cited some of them. I mean, singling Elise Stefanik, for instance, ought to be treated like a terrorist and not allowed to fly, put on the No Fly List. 

Also statements about law enforcement. This is somebody who just whole last year, Tucker, encouraged and condoned the violent rioting in our cities, said that Federal law enforcement who were sent to Portland to protect the Federal Courthouse, he said that they were a mob themselves so that they were acting like they were serving a dictator, attacked them for not being real soldiers. Those are his words. 

I mean, it's unbelievable. It's just unbelievable, and it shows that Nancy Pelosi isn't interested in getting any facts. She is interested in power and in amassing power and an excuse to keep holding power, including those thousands of troops who are still at the Capitol who are still there treating it like an armed camp. Why? No one will say, but this is what Pelosi is interested in. 

CARLSON: So I saw an internal memo today from House Republicans saying, you know, we're not going to question the presence of all those Federal troops in Washington, because there is some kind of threat which they never explained. What a betrayal of the country, I would say. 

But beyond that, this is a guy running around calling himself General. I mean, shouldn't we be getting a little concerned at this point that the leadership of the U.S. military should be totally nonpartisan and not involved in these debates. I mean, are we sure that it still is? 

HAWLEY: Yes, well, this is somebody, this particular General who has been retired now for a while and I don't question his service to our country at all, Tucker, I applaud him for it. 

But he has been a partisan, a dedicated partisan, that's putting it mildly, since he left the military, an extreme left-wing Democrat. And you could just see it in the comments that he's made. 

But I'm concerned about what they're laying the groundwork for here, what Nancy Pelosi is doing. I'm concerned that they continue to treat the January 6th catastrophe, that criminal riot as an excuse to seize power, to control more power, to step on people's Second Amendment rights to take away their First Amendment rights. 

Now, we're hearing about a domestic war on terror. I mean, what's that going to be? An excuse to go rifle through the e-mails and bank statements and personal messages of law-abiding Americans? I mean, this is very, very frightening stuff. 

And what Pelosi and the Democrats are doing here trying to consolidate power, it's dangerous. 

CARLSON: Please convince your fellow Republicans on the Hill to stand up for the country, please. I think what you said is absolutely right. It needed to be said, and I hope others will say it. Thank you very much. 

Senator, good to see you. 

HAWLEY: Thank you. 

CARLSON: Well, a couple of months ago, we made an announcement about our future here on FOX. Here's what we said. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) 

CARLSON: Before we get to the next segment, a quick note about this show. Over the weekend, we got a lot of calls asking if we're leaving FOX News. 

Ironically, at that very moment, we are working on a project to expand the amount of reporting and analysis we do in this hour across other parts of the company. This show is not going anywhere. It's getting bigger. 

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

CARLSON: So tonight, we're going to explain what exactly we are doing and we'll do that right after the break. 

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) 

CARLSON: A quick announcement. We told you in November that we were doubling down on FOX News and FOX News on us. Tonight, we're going to tell you what that means. 

Starting in April, we'll be launching a regular podcast on FOX Nation. It will be produced by the same people who make this show and backed by the same company that keeps us on the air. 

Whatever you may read about FOX News on the internet, the truth is and we would know they are principal defenders of free speech and they are tough as hell. We wouldn't be here if they weren't, trust us. 

Every day there's intense pressure to pull the show off the air and every day, they resist that pressure and we're grateful for that. 

We're also grateful for FOX Nation. At a time when the Big Tech companies have decided to shut down all inconvenient facts and opinions, FOX Nation has protected it. It's a subscription service. 

Big Tech can't touch it. It can't be censored and that's a blessing. 

We won't only be starting a new podcast, but one of the first things we're doing on FOX Nation is starting a long form investigative series called "Tucker Carlson Originals." It'll look much more deeply into some of the things we talk about nightly on this show. 

Here's a trailer. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) 

CARLSON: I cannot believe I'm shooting on the Hickok 45 range. 

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're stealing what we have here in Maine. They're totally full of [bleep]. 

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go beat Donald Trump. 

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My concern in my safety and my daughter's. 

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will pass that, they know that. 

CARLSON: This corridor is more than an energy project, it is an attack of the weak against the strong. 

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're just so delighted you're a gun guy. 

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

CARLSON: That was a fun part. We're working on a lot of stories and have been for months. The series will cover a wide range of topics and they will be commercial free on FOX Nation. I hope you'll see them. 

Two episodes, by the way are already in production, they investigate the story behind the Green New Deal. So when the power went out in Texas on Monday, we immediately sent our "Originals" team to find out what exactly was happening, because we knew it would not be long before the same ideologues who caused this disaster would be online and claiming that the Green New Deal, their schemes had nothing to do with it, and we were right. They started lying within hours. 

But our team was there, gathering evidence on the ground. This footage which they took is from Big Spring, Texas. As you can see, the wind turbines aren't generating any power, because they're not moving. 

The temperature by the way is not even that cold, it is 21 degrees, but they are iced over. No electricity. 

Our team in Big Spring tells us that hotels nearby have no water and of course rolling blackouts are affecting the entire area and much of the State of Texas. 

Now why aren't you seeing more footage like this on other media? You know why? Journalists and the politicians they exist to protect are lying to you. They need you to believe that those windmills were a great investment. You paid for them. 

People already know that they are expensive. People who live near them though they destroy the environment and kill animals, huge numbers of animals. 

But if people knew they had crashed the power grid, maybe they wouldn't put up with it anymore. So they've decided to tell you that these frozen wind turbines aren't really a big deal. Not a big deal. Quote, "No, the Green New Deal did not cause the Texas power outage," read a piece today in "New York" Magazine. Right. 

Sandy Cortez was immediately on social media sharing her followers. Here's one, quote: "Texas runs on 80 to 90 percent fossil fuels," she said. Yes, that's just not true. That's the problem with that claim. 

Energy officials in Texas confirmed in public that wind power, windmills provide about 25 percent of the state's total electricity. 

And on Tuesday, more than a third of Texas's power that went offline, a total of about 16,000 megawatts came from so-called renewable energy sources, mostly windmills. 

Now, those are tough facts for politicians who want to turn the entire power grid over to renewable energy sources. Companies and their friends and donors almost always own. That would include people like Sandy Cortez so they lie about it, quote: "The infrastructure failures in Texas are quite literally, what happens when you don't pursue a Green New Deal," Cortez wrote today, "quite literally," right? 

In other words, pay no attention to the frozen windmills. According to Sandy Cortez, we need more windmills and you need to stop complaining about them. We also need and again, we're quoting here, "A new focus on equity," of course equity. 

So Texas has no power because of racism. That's what they are saying. Here's the point. Putting low IQ ideologues like Sandy Cortez in charge of the power grid really does in the end mean, the end of civilization. No one who uses the word equity non-ironically, should be allowed anywhere near a power plant or by the way, a cockpit of a commercial airliner or in any other job that requires math. The math you say is racist. 

It's bad enough people like this are in our HR Departments and Sociology Departments. It's bad enough that they use your suffering to gain more power. But running the country, its infrastructure, no chance. You can't have that. 

Now, we shot the footage of those frozen windmills because it is proof, literally cold hard proof that they are lying to you. And no matter how good they've got at lying, they can't deny what everyone can see and that's the point of this series, to show you the things they don't want you to see in a place that's completely protected from their interference and we really look forward to that and we hope you'll watch. 

Well, if you're a parent, you're probably wondering, when are the schools going to open? Kamala Harris tried to answer that question today, but no one understood her. It was like she was speaking in another language. We've decoded her response for you, and we'll show it to you. 

Plus, Glenn Beck is here on the life of Rush Limbaugh, straight ahead. 

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) 

CARLSON: Here's what the science tells us about schools. It is safe to reopen classrooms. It is safe for students, it is safe for teachers. We have known this for many months, the C.D.C. now concedes it. 

Now, this fact and it's a scientific fact, puts the party of science in a pretty tough spot. They spent months telling us to trust the experts, but now they're ignoring the experts. Why are they doing that? You know why they're doing it? They want to make the teachers unions happy. Teachers unions give more money than almost anybody else to the Democratic Party. 

But they can't admit that because that is hurting kids in order to please the most entitled, the least appealing of all campaign donors. So they have to have offer some justification for it. 

Kamala Harris took her shot today at explaining it and here's how it went. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) 

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NBC NEWS LEGAL ANALYST: Well, let's talk about schools. We got a lot of parents watching right now maybe with their kids right next to them because they're not going to school. 

The C.D.C.-- 

KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We all want the schools to reopen, Savannah, all of us who have children in our lives, they want to go back to school, we want them to go back to school, teachers want to teach. 

GUTHRIE: But what about that C.D.C. guidance, then? 

HARRIS: That's what the highest priority --  

GUTHRIE: That's the question. Look, again, parents watching. What is the bottom line? What does it mean for schools to be reopened and how soon can they be reopened. 

HARRIS: So our goal is that as many K through eight schools as possible will reopen within the first hundred days. 

GUTHRIE: I don't want to -- I don't want to beat it to death, but I just - - I know there are teachers listening and the C.D.C. has said they don't have to be vaccinated to go back to school. 

HARRIS: We think they should be a priority. 

GUTHRIE: Of course, it is the priority. 

HARRIS: We think they should -- we think they should be a priority. 

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

CARLSON: Ooh, it's pretty tough for NBC. We're just guessing. But we're thinking that one of the people on the screen had kids in school, the other of course, doesn't -- hasn't. Good for her for pressing it. But what was the answer? What the hell did that mean? 

Dr. Marc Siegel joins us to assess what that may have meant. Doctor, great to see you. So when are the schools opening? Did you figure that out? 

DR. MARC SIEGEL, FOX NEWS CHANNEL MEDICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, I did Tucker, and unfortunately, here's what I figured out that you and I coined the term a year ago "follow the science." I think we were among the first to say it. And now everybody says it. 

But you know what it really means, the code word for political expediency, follow the science, if it agrees with you. Follow the science if the C.D.C. is what you want it to say and you're not fighting the teachers unions. Then it is sacrosanct. 

But otherwise, if they are pushing too hard, you say it's only a recommendation if you're the Vice President, only a recommendation, only a guideline. But here's what it actually says, Tucker, though outbreaks do occur in school settings. Multiple studies have shown that transmission within school settings is typically lower than or at least similar to levels of community transmission. 

Well, the C.D.C. in the same guidelines is clear. Kids don't get sick very often. They don't transmit it to teachers. They have very mild cases. The schools need to be open. 

So why is this political expediency occurring? Why is the C.D.C. moving the goalposts, the medical goalposts, and now focusing -- hyper focusing in on so-called red zones where there is more community spread when we have just read that it doesn't spread to schools more than in the community? 

Tucker, I went to Medical School and I keep it very simple in Medical School, I follow two oaths. First, do no harm and the second one, look at the patient as a fellow creature in pain, Tucker. 

Tucker, when I see kids hunkered -- hunkered down in front of computer screens, their eyes going red, unhappy, I see a creature in pain. 

But when I see kids together in a school, with their partners, with their pals, playing a sport, maybe exercising, smiling, seeing their teachers, Tucker, that is the cure -- Tucker. 

CARLSON: See your patient as a fellow human being in pain. I think that is -- you know, most of us aren't doctors -- it is worth remembering. See your fellow humans as people in pain because they are and I think it's really a wise thing to say. Doctor, thank you. 

SIEGEL: Thanks, Tucker. 

CARLSON: So as we told you, and as you already knew, Rush Limbaugh has passed away at the age of 70. One of the few people who understands -- really understands -- the life that Rush Limbaugh led is Glenn Beck, and we're happy to have Glenn Beck join us, straight ahead. 

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) 

CARLSON: Rush Limbaugh passed away today, as you know, as we've talked about earlier in the show. He had an extraordinary life. But he also had a very unusual life. 

It's hard to understand what it was like to be Rush Limbaugh and to work in that world, unless, you've done it and very few people have done that, very, very few. 

One who has is Glenn Beck and he understands and that's why we're happy to have him on tonight to join us. Glenn, thanks so much for coming on. 

GLENN BECK, FOUNDER, "THE BLAZE": Well, thank you. You know, I was thinking, Tucker, today, I don't know any man, any one person, not a movement, not a collection of people, any one person that changed the culture as much as Rush Limbaugh did that added to the culture. 

Maybe Carson, maybe Johnny Carson, but what one man has done this? I don't know of any. 

CARLSON: It's amazing. And at the end at the center of it, and I don't think -- I mean, you see him today described as a kind of political activist or radio activist -- he was a creator. He made things that didn't exist, but he was a creative force. 

BECK: Yes. Yes. And for as much bluster and I didn't know Rush very well at all. He was a very, very private man, and as you know, Tucker, you've lived this lifestyle, too. You have very few friends that you can trust, unless they're longtime friends, and even those sometimes will go a little nuts. 

So he was a very private man that I knew, but he was very humble. I remember the first time I tried out for talk radio, he allowed me to use his studio with his golden microphone, which was terrifying to me. And then when they were going to syndicate me, he listened to my show for a week before they even told me that they were going to make me an offer. 

And when it came down to it, Craig Kitchen, the President of Premier met with him and Craig told me that he had said, he started the conversation and said, "Craig, before you say anything, just let's -- we've been friends. Let's just break it easy. It's been a very good run." He actually thought they were going to come down and say, hey, we're moving on, things aren't so great. 

He had no concept, or I shouldn't say that. He had -- he did not have the ego that he had on the air. It was balanced. He knew that most people didn't last 30 years in broadcast. 

CARLSON: Yes. 

BECK: But he -- I don't know if he knew he wasn't most people. 

CARLSON: How do you last 30 years in a business like this with the daily intensity, with the relentless attacks, not just on your business, but on you, your character, and your family? How do you not become warped and crazy and bitter and lose your creative power? 

BECK: I think that he only had about 15 years of that. I mean, they've always been after Rush, but the last 15 years has changed the way the left just slits throats and let you bleed in the street and the dirty things that they do is different than it was you know, twenty to twenty five years ago. 

He had to know what he believes. You know, I think all this pushback on each of us. First of all, nobody can do three hours live unscripted every day and be faultless, and also, no one can fake it for that long. 

CARLSON: Well, that's true. 

BECK: The audience hears it, you can't. So he had to believe it. He knew who he was and when you know who you are, and you know what you believe is true and people keep throwing you up against the wall, it makes you check yourself, which only makes you stronger in the end. 

Because again, you reaffirm or you learn something new and you know exactly why you believe it's true. 

CARLSON: But not to become bitter. I mean, for sure, opposition forces you to clarify your own beliefs. It toughen you. 

BECK: Because he was never -- Tucker, you're the same way. We don't become bitter because we don't do the show for those people. 

I heard Rush say one time and it is so true. In fact, I just said it recently. I don't do my show for those people who don't listen. He wasn't doing the show for those people. 

CARLSON: Good point. 

BECK: He was doing it for this amazing audience and say what you want, Rush Limbaugh's audience, my audience, the talk radio audience, your audience, they are amazingly good and fair and decent people. 

You get it wrong, they'll correct you. You believe in the inherent goodness of people and the strength and goodness of America; that buoys all of us up and I know it did him. 

He was very much Ronald Reagan in his belief of the American people and what we could do. 

CARLSON: How do you think he understood his audience as well as he did? As you pointed out, he is obviously living in some level of seclusion, just because you kind of have to, in this big house, he does a show from home. He doesn't have a lot of contact, but he seemed very tuned in. This must be something you think about a lot. 

How do you stay in touch with the people who are listening to you? 

BECK: I don't -- I don't know, but I would guess that he stayed in touch by the number of phone calls that he took, which you can get a feel in talk radio. 

But also, I think he drew on what he believed and how he grew up. I think a lot of us -- and that's what's so frightening about today. What are our kids being taught? We grew up in a time period where in America, you could accomplish anything, and it didn't matter what color you were. It didn't matter if you were poor or rich or connected or not, anyone could make it. 

He believed that because he came from nothing. I believe that because I came from nothing. And that is -- that's something I think you can draw on in tough times, good times for the rest of your life and I think he feasted on that. 

CARLSON: How do you think he'll be remembered? 

BECK: Who is writing the history book? 

CARLSON: Right. Well, that's it. Have you noticed that there's an immediate effort to describe him in ways that you know will persist through the years? 

BECK: Here's how he should be remembered. He was the Johnny Carson of radio. He was the every man of radio. He saved -- in Europe, they don't have AM radios in cars anymore. 

The only reason why we have AM radios is because of Rush Limbaugh. That medium was over. He completely reinvented it. He was the first voice since Kennedy was in office that didn't have to -- he didn't have to answer and have you know, a liberal on the other side. 

He could actually speak things and speak them in a way that people understood and could repeat it. 

CARLSON: Amazing. 

BECK: He was a great teacher. 

CARLSON: Glenn Beck, I appreciate it. Thank you. 

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