Rush Limbaugh delivered a kiss-off to Jon Stewart to mark the
comedic newsman's impending departure from "The Daily Show," telling listeners on Wednesday that Stewart spent the last six of his 16 years as beloved mock anchorman cheerleading a "destructive" Democratic presidency while "poisoning the Republican brand,"
Mediaite reports.
Limbaugh gave Stewart props as a "funny guy," but said he played the same role as liberal straight-news outlets such as ABC, NBC, CBS, The Washington Post and The New York Times — helping to "grease the tracks" for the favored Obama while blaming his disastrous presidency on political opponents who had no part in it.
"For 16 years Jon Stewart has blamed everything gone wrong on Republicans," said Limbaugh. "What's left to blame on them, particularly the last six years when they haven't been in power, haven't been able to stop anything?
"Jon Stewart is all in for Barack Obama," he said, offering a litany of woes on Obama's watch, from "sky-high deductibles and out-of-pockets" under Obamacare to crushing, unpayable student loans in Obama's "part time economy."
"And while all of this has been going on, Jon Stewart has lampooned, impugned, destroyed and taken out as many Republicans as he can, when they haven't had a thing to do with it — except now, with them standing aside and letting it happen," said Limbaugh.
Stewart said on Wednesday's broadcast that he planned to leave the anchor desk later this year. He thanked viewers for watching or "hate-watching" the show.
"Jon Stewart has helped polarize the country by poisoning the Republican brand," he said, adding, "And he's not the only one."
Stewart was known for sometimes ridiculing Obama, labeling him "emperor" for his executive actions on immigration and the "Barry Bombs of drone strikes" against terrorist targets.
But in his valedictory address, Limbaugh said that Stewart and his real-news counterparts "ignored scandal after scandal" in the Obama administration "because Jon Stewart, ABC, NBC, CBS are liberals first, and in his case a comedian second."
“Stewart’s a funny guy," said Limbaugh, "but he lacks an appreciation of federalism and he lacks an understanding of the harm caused by Obama’s cult of personality that also sucked him in.”