On his radio show Monday, conservative host Rush Limbaugh declined a chance to hit Speaker John Boehner and support those who are pushing to oust him from his speakership.
Limbaugh, fresh from the holiday season, seemed skeptical of the movement led by the likes of Rep. Louie Gohmert and Rep. Ted Yoho, both of whom have offered themselves up to replace Boehner.
The conservative favorite told his listeners that people have told him he needs to weigh in on the movement to discard Boehner, though he decided not to go the extra mile and make a definitive statement one way or another.
“Somebody said to me this whole Boehner thing and this Republican leadership thing, I mean, until you weigh in on it, a lot of people aren’t gonna know what to think and how to act and maybe even how to vote,” the conservative radio host said. “And I asked Snerdley, I said, “Do you think that’s really true? I mean, am I an entertainer today or am I the titular head of the party today, which is it?”
“Well, you’ve gotta understand, whether you like it or not, there are people waiting to see what you think about this,” Snerdly said.
“We’ve got some people challenging Boehner. Louie Gohmert, our buddy, wants to run for Speaker,” Limbaugh said. “He was on Fox today, and they said, ‘Why? You don’t have a chance. Why are you doing this?’ How many people told Obama he didn’t have a chance and he went for it anyway? We don’t know ’til they cast the votes whether anybody has a chance.”
“But it’s all about getting rid of Boehner as speaker, which a majority of Republicans outside Washington want to do. It’s not the first time, and every effort that has been made prior to this has failed,” said Limbaugh. “They say they’ve got 25 out of 29 votes to at least veto Boehner, if not elect somebody in his place. But they had that before and it fell apart.”
“It caved at the moment of truth,” Limbaugh added
Limbaugh’s hesitance to bash Boehner runs in contrast to many others on the conservative media spectrum. Over the past week, Fox News’ Sean Hannity and conservative radio host Laura Ingraham both attacked Boehner’s speakership, wasting no opportunity to bash the speaker’s conservative bonafides, especially over the recent passing of the CRomnibus.
On Sunday, Hannity took the chance on Twitter to endorse Rep. Louie Gohmert’s run for speaker, though the chances of him winning the post is considered a longshot. (RELATED: Sean Hannity Backs Louie Gohmert’s House Speakership’s Run)
Meanwhile, Ingraham’s Monday radio show featured two of the 10 congressmen who have expressed support for a change in the speakership, Rep. Bridenstine and Gohmert. Ingraham’s program also pushed out an ICYMI email Monday featuring Rep. Dave Brat’s opposition to Boehner.