On Monday, conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh made an appearance in storm-ravaged Joplin, Missouri with 3,800 cases of his newly launched “Two If by Tea” product.

The appearance came from a contest he put on to promote “Two If by Tea,” in which he sought nominations for a city that “celebrates American pride.” Joplin won the contest and Limbaugh offered words of encouragement for the city undergoing a massive rebuilding effort. (h/t Reboot Congress)

“[T]hose of you from Joplin, Mo. – you may not know it yet, but you are the essence of what the founding fathers had in mind,” Limbaugh said. “You are the epitome — you are the people that make this country work. What happened here is something that you are going to erase. You’ll never forget it from your memories but you’re going to build back — that is going to get fixed. It’s going to be rebuilt. It’s going to be better than it ever was. You are going to show the rest of the country of how it’s done because you represent the best of what this country has to offer.”

Limbaugh explained the city was an example of the American ideal of self-reliance, which he said was a fundamental part of the nation’s exceptionalism.

“You understand the principle of hard work and self-reliance,” he continued. “You understand the difference between self-interest and selfishness. You are not selfish. You all are going to be working your own self-interest. You’re going to rebuild your lives and in the process, everybody else’s lives will be rebuilt right along with yours. American exceptionalism is simply the result of our founding fathers understanding that out government is not to determine the quality of outcomes in life because we’re not all the same. Our country was determined to present equality of opportunity and what you do with it is your business. We’re 235 years old. We’re here on Independence Day. We are celebrating the biggest miracle in the history of human civilization. And I was grow older, I just 60 — I become more in awe, more appreciative of this country every day.”