South Carolina
Gov. Nikki Haley's response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday is proof that the party establishment "elites" want to drive conservatives from the party, talk radio host
Rush Limbaugh said Wednesday.
"It's the first time in my life I can remember the response to the State of the Union not going after the president, but rather going off the front-runner of, in this case, her own party," Limbaugh said. "And it is quite telling to note where in the drive-by media and in the conservative media today she's being hailed."
Haley admitted she was "partially" talking about Donald Trump when she warned against the "angriest voices" in America.
On his show, Limbaugh called Haley's address "almost absolute proof … that the Republican Party's trying to drive conservatives out of the party."
But more than that, he said, the speech "expanded the theme of who is and who isn't qualified to be a Republican, and the Republican Party is still anti-conservative."
In addition to Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Haley also was referring to talk radio, Limbaugh said.
"She also means the conservative base, and don't believe anything other than that," he said.
"This is, to me, one of the greatest bits of evidence that the Republican Party is not just anti-conservative, but it is very much pro-elite," he said. "It is a club that they don't want a whole lot of people joining," even though Trump has put together a coalition of supporters that is exactly what the Republican Party claims it wants.
Haley next will endorse an "establishment" candidate – either Florida Sen. Marco Rubio or former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush – it mitigates gains by Trump and/or Cruz in Iowa and New Hampshire, he said.
Haley's speech was hailed by the establishment "drive-by" media, Limbaugh said, because, "When they can get Republicans to agree with them that Republicans are the problem, why, that's a red letter day."