2006: Limbaugh Allegedly Defends Slavery, Later Denies Quote

Rush Limbaugh is quoted in the book 101 People Who Are Really Screwing America as saying: “I mean, let’s face it, we didn’t have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: slavery built the South. I’m not saying we should bring it back; I’m just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark.” The book also claims that Limbaugh told a radio audience in 1998: “You know who deserves a posthumous Medal of Honor? James Earl Ray [the assassin of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.]. We miss you, James. Godspeed.” The book does not cite a source for the alleged comments. In 2009, Limbaugh will deny making them, telling his listeners: “There’s a quote out there… that I somehow, some time ago, defended slavery and started cracking jokes about it. And, you know, you say a lot of things in the course of 15 hours a week, over the course of 21 years. We’ve gone back, we have looked at everything we have. There is not even an inkling that any words in this quote are accurate. It’s outrageous, but it’s totally predictable. It’s being repeated by people who have never listened to this program, they certainly didn’t hear it said themselves because it was never said.” [Snopes (.com), 10/13/2009]