Rush Limbaugh 'felt the heartbeat of the country': Steve Moore
Limbaugh 'potentially converted millions of Americans to the conservative movement,' Moore said
Former Trump economic adviser Steve Moore joined FOX Business’ “Cavuto: Coast to Coast” to celebrate the life and career of Conservative media icon Rush Limbaugh, who died Wednesday morning at the age of 70 after a battle with lung cancer.
Moore highlighted Limbaugh’s role in shaping the modern-day Republican Party.
“When Reagan left the White House in 1988, there was kind of a lull in the conservative movement at that time,” Moore said. “You know, George H.W. Bush wasn't a real conservative. And then when he lost, Bill Clinton came in and we conservatives were lost in the wilderness.”
RUSH LIMBAUGH DEAD, BUSINESS AND POLITICAL COMMUNITY TRIBUTES FLOOD IN
Moore pointed out that conservatives were looking for the next “champion” of the movement.
“And out of the blue comes this radio talk show host who I never even heard of him before,” Moore said. “He just took off like a rocket ship and everybody had to listen to Rush Limbaugh. You just had to. If you wanted to know what was going on politically and you had a conservative bent, you had to listen to him.”
RUSH LIMBAUGH, CONSERVATIVE TALK RADIO PIONEER, DEAD AT 70
FEBRUARY 04: First Lady Melania Trump awards Rush Limbaugh the Presidential Medal of Freedom during President Donald Trumps State of the Union address. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
In Moore's opinion, Limbaugh was the most important person, aside from Newt Gingrich, in the “Republican Revolution” in the 1994 midterm elections.
He recalled working for Gingrich at the time and said weeks before Election Night, political scientists, pollsters and commentators were asked their predictions and Limbaugh was the only one who expected the Republicans to win.
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“He was the only one and he wasn't even a professional pollster,” Moore told FOX Business’ Neil Cavuto. “He knew it. He could feel the heartbeat of the country because he talked to people every day. And I'll just never forget that, that he proved all the political pundits wrong.”
Moore called Limbaugh’s decades-long career “amazing” and said his audience was made up of “working-class Americans” who had perhaps not considered themselves conservatives before.
“Rush kind of converted potentially tens of millions of Americans to the conservative movement,” Moore said. “And I think that was just a remarkable achievement.”
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Moore also recalled being honored when Limbaugh would sometimes mention his work on the radio, which would always result in Moore receiving “a deluge” of emails and messages, saying “Rush Limbaugh mentioned you – you’ve hit the big time!”