On the January 18 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, referring to MSNBC host Chris Matthews' January 17 statement regarding his controversial comments about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), Rush Limbaugh said: “The one time Matthews gets something right, and he apologizes for it because of pressure from the Hillary front group Media Matters for America.” On January 8, Matthews had said of Clinton: "[T]he reason she's a U.S. senator, the reason she's a candidate for president, the reason she may be a front-runner is her husband messed around." Limbaugh asserted that Matthews' original comment “hit the nail on the head” and went on to state: “I've said that in far more explicit terms behind this very golden EIB microphone. Hillary Clinton is where she is because she is the most cheated-on woman in the world.” Limbaugh added that because of Matthews' January 17 statement, "Hardball last night turned into Suckball."

Limbaugh later said that conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer “had an even better line today,” referring to Krauthammer's January 18 column, in which he wrote that the “presidency is her [Clinton's] due -- the ultimate in alimony.” Limbaugh stated that Krauthammer “said this whole bid for the presidency is just one giant alimony payment,” adding: “Even without the divorce. So, yeah. We're all -- we're the ones paying for it. That's exactly right -- a giant alimony payment, and we're the ones paying.”

Contrary to Limbaugh's characterization, Media Matters is an independent, nonprofit, progressive organization unaffiliated with any candidate or political party.

From the January 18 edition of The Rush Limbaugh Show:

LIMBAUGH: I had to go to this cocktail party last night, and I get in, and it was a hearing nightmare. It was conveniently located only five blocks from my fashionable Upper East Side penthouse. And I got in there, and it was just -- I could hardly hear. And I -- a lot of people in there I didn't know. One guy came up to me and started saying, “Did you see Matthews tonight? Did you see -- ” No. I never see Matthews. “Oh, you got to see it, you got to see it! You got to --” What happened? “Oh, it was the most amazing thing. You just got to see it!” What happened? “Well, well, I mean, you -- ”

I couldn't -- I'm having trouble hearing the guy, but I eventually figured out what he was saying, that Matthews apologized to Hillary. The one time Matthews gets something right, and he apologizes for it because of pressure from the Hillary front group Media Matters for America. And you do -- if you didn't hear this, you have to hear it. Here, first, is what Matthews said that got Media Matters and everybody all upset. This is on January 9th, and this actually was on the Scarborough show in the morning, Morning Joe. And this is what Matthews said about Hillary.

MATTHEWS [audio clip]: I think the Hillary appeal has always been somewhat about her mix of toughness and sympathy for her. Let's not forget -- and I'll be brutal -- the reason she's a U.S. senator, the reason she's a candidate for president, the reason she may be a front-runner is her husband messed around. That's how she got to be senator from New York. We keep forgetting it. She didn't win there on her merit. She won because everybody felt, “My God, this woman stood up under humiliation,” right? That's what happened.

LIMBAUGH: He hit the nail on the head, folks. In fact, I've said that in far more explicit terms behind this very golden EIB microphone. Hillary Clinton is where she is because she is the most cheated-on woman in the world. Not the most cheated-on woman in America, but the most cheated-on woman in the world.

Now listen, as Hardball last night turned into Suckball:

MATTHEWS [audio clip]: Concerned people like you who watch this show so faithfully every night, people like me who care about this country, think I've been disrespectful to Hillary Clinton, not as a candidate, but as a woman.

[audio break]

Was it fair to imply that Hillary's whole career depended on being a victim of an unfaithful husband? No. And that's what it sounded like I was saying, and it hurt people I'd like to think normally like what I say, in fact, normally like me.

[audio break]

If my heart has not always controlled my words, on those occasions when I have not taken the time to say things right, or have simply said the inappropriate thing, I'll try to be clearer, smarter, more obviously in support of the right of women -- of all people -- the full equality and respect for their ambitions. So, I get it.

[audio break]

Saying that Senator Clinton got where she's got simply because her husband did what he did to her is just as callous, and I can see now, it comes across just as nasty, worse yet, just as dismissive.

LIMBAUGH: Well, you know, this is what happens to you when you want to be liked by the libs and when you don't want the libs getting mad at you. I mean, that -- this is what my show would be every day if I sought the approval of the libs. So Hardball became Suckball last night, and he got it right the first time when he was on Scarborough because she -- what else recommends her? In fact, Krauthammer had an even better line today. I read his column at National Review Online, and he said this whole bid for the presidency is just one giant alimony payment. Heh, heh, heh. Even without the divorce.

So, yeah. We're all -- we're the ones paying for it. That's exactly right -- a giant alimony payment, and we're the ones paying. She has -- I hope my voice is not going to irritate you today. I'm going to do my best. As long as I don't raise it, it'll be fine.

But she is the most cheated-on woman in the world. And that's -- I mean, where does this entitlement, this sense of entitlement come from? Or this inevitability or what have you.