Rush Limbaugh clarifies NASCAR comments
Conservative radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh went out of his way Thursday to make sure listeners understood that he’s not the one who links NASCAR with “hayseed hicks.”
The comment came one day after a Limbaugh quote about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential candidate prompted a NASCAR statement taking issue with the linkage.
“I don’t look at anybody as a NASCAR hick,” Limbaugh said on his nationally syndicated show today. “I was simply trying to portray this is the way the Democrats and the media look at Sarah Palin and the way they look at NASCAR. Democrats look at NASCAR the way they look at pro-lifers: with contempt and condescension. And that’s all I was trying to relay. I have got nothing against NASCAR whatsoever, the people that are involved in it or anybody in this country for that matter in that regard.”
Limbaugh’s original comments on Tuesday night on a Fox News show had prompted considerable Internet comments along with the NASCAR statement.
“Oh, I like Gov. Palin. I mean, she's refreshing. I think she's real. … She's – you know, this – we have a polarization in this country not just of conservative, liberal, Democrat, Republican. We also have a polarization in this country of elites versus average people,” Limbaugh said on the show, according to a transcript on Fox News’ Web site. “The elites think they're the smart people, and they think Sarah Palin's a hayseed hick. She may as well be on the NASCAR circuit.”
