CNN media analyst Bill Carter questioned the decision to lower flags to half-staff in Florida in honor of conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh.
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Friday that flags would be lowered upon the announcement of funeral arrangements for the legendary radio host, who passed away Wednesday at the age of 70 after battling lung cancer.
Asked for his reaction by CNN host Brian Stelter during Sunday morning’s “Reliable Sources,” Carter called the decision “kind of shocking.”
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“You know the governor of Florida is just playing for conservative attention doing that,” Carter said. “But the justification is really questionable. I mean look, Limbaugh had a huge following and he was very popular among a group of right-wing listeners, but he wasn’t a heroic figure. He had a lot of incidents that were extremely questionable and his views were pretty ugly and they hurt a lot of people. They hurt some people personally.”
“An awful lot of people are justifiable saying why are you celebrating a guy who attacked Barack Obama on race, who sang ‘Barack the Magic Negro’ and all kinds of extremely outrageous things that frankly conservatives loved,” he continued. “They loved him for that, and he established the brand. He did. That was a brand. But to make it a heroic thing, something that should be celebrated like a war hero, I find that pretty questionable.” (RELATED: Liberals Reacted As You Can Imagine To Rush Limbaugh’s Death, By Sneering And Celebrating)
Limbaugh lived in Palm Beach, Florida, since 1996 after moving there from New York early in his career.