As Limbaugh Guest Host, Rove Continues To Whitewash His Role In Plame Leak

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published

By Sean Easter

Karl Rove subbed for Rush Limbaugh today. It was Rove's first time subbing for Rush. He opened the show by saying that he could hear conservative voices “across the country” say, “What happened to Rush? We've got Rove in today for him! And yet, and yet, that's offset by the gnashing of teeth we found in every liberal household across America.” Rove frequently repeated throughout the show the joke that Limbaugh's brief vacation in the Southwest was only a cover for the true reason for Rush's absence: attending a secret meeting of a conservative conspiracy.

For the first hour, Rove devoted much time to discussing Christina Romer's recent resignation as White House chief economic adviser. Rove mockingly bemoaned the absence of the “humor” provided by the departing Romer's predictions.

Rove began the second hour discussing President Obama's fundraising trip to Texas. Rove suggested that Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, would greet the president by saying, “Howdy, Mr. President. May I have a minute to talk to you about what a lousy job you're doing on border security?” Rove went on to suggest that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White would distance himself from Obama as much as possible because, Rove explained, appearing next to Obama in Texas would “be like getting the political Ebola plague.”

Rove included a few pot shots at progressive figures throughout the show. Criticizing Joe Biden's monitoring of stimulus funds, Rove called the vice president “a yuck a minute,” who had been “wrong on every single major foreign policy issue since he came to the Congress in 1972.” Rove also revived the myth that Al Gore claimed to have invented the Internet. He also took the opportunity to continue to whitewash his role in leaking Valerie Plame's identity as a CIA operative.

Highlights from today's show: