Rush Limbaugh Claims Hurricane Irma Is Part Of A Vast Conspiracy

Ed Mazza
Updated

Right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh is once again playing the role of hurricane truther, but with a twist.

Last year, Limbaugh said the storms were somehow part of a liberal conspiracy to push a climate change agenda. This year, he has said they’re also part of a media plot to help advertisers sell bottled water and emergency supplies.

As Hurricane Irma neared the Caribbean with winds of up to 185 mph, Limbaugh said:

“Here comes a hurricane, local media goes on the air, ‘Big hurricane coming, oh, my God! Make sure you got batteries. Make sure you got water. It could be the worst ever. Have you seen the size of this baby? It’s already a Cat 5. Oh, my God, oh, my God, it’s bigger than the island of Haiti. Oh, my God.’ People run to the stores, they stock up everything, and they hoard. And they end up with vacant stores, nothing there. And it’s a big success. TV stations got eyeballs, the advertising businesses have sold out of business, gotta restock and the cycle repeats.”

(Photo: David Cannon via Getty Images)
(Photo: David Cannon via Getty Images)

In a transcript of his Tuesday radio show, Limbaugh repeatedly complained about the stores in Palm Beach ― where he lives and broadcasts from ― being out of water despite the uncertainty of the storm’s path.

Limbaugh also claimed the storm was being used to push an environmental agenda. He said, “People in all of these government areas” are “hell-bent” on proving climate change.

“You can accomplish a lot just by creating fear and panic,” he said. “You don’t need a hurricane to hit anywhere. All you need is to create the fear and panic accompanied by talk that climate change is causing hurricanes to become more frequent and bigger and more dangerous, and you create the panic, and it’s mission accomplished, agenda advanced.”

Even Hurricane Harvey, which devastated portions of the Gulf Coast of Texas, was part of this conspiracy.

“Hurricane Harvey and the TV pictures that accompany that go a long way to helping further and create the panic,” Limbaugh said.

After spending the entire segment politicizing storm preparations and coverage, Limbaugh lamented how political everything has become.

“I wish that not everything that involved news had become corrupted and politicized, but it just has,” he said.

Limbaugh made similar comments about hurricanes last year, claiming the storms were being used to push a political agenda.

“It’s in the interest of the left to have destructive hurricanes because then they can blame it on climate change, which they can desperately continue trying to sell,” he said in October 2016.

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