Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has mandated that flags be flown at half-staff in the sunshine state in honor of conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, who died this week from Lung Cancer at the age of 70.
“We had one of our own, Rush Limbaugh, pass away a few days ago. What we do for something of this magnitude, when they announce the dates of internment for Rush, we are going to be lowering the flags to half staff,” he told fans on Friday. “There’s not much that needs to be said, the guy was an absolute legend.”
The move was instantly denounced by state Democrats, who attacked the governor for offering the honor to such a polarizing figure.
“Lowering the flag of the United States is a high honor reserved for those who have honorably and bravely served our state and our nation,” State Sen. Gary Farmer, the top Democratic in the chamber in a statement. “Unfortunately, Gov. DeSantis has now transformed this distinction into a partisan political tool to salute a man who served no other interests than his own and did his best to deeply divide a country along political fault lines.”
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz called the decision an “embarrassment” to the state.
Limbaugh, widely regarded as the father of conservative talk radio, reached his personal high point during the Trump era where he spoke regularly with the former president. Limbaugh stayed on the air until just weeks before his death. In February, Trump awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
DeSantis wasn’t the only GOP pol looking to honor Rush by lowering flags. Over in Washington, freshman congresswoman Lauren Boebert called on the federal government to follow suit.
That, however, would be a call for President Biden — making such a move considerably less likely.