Limbaugh Mocks Reports of Children Dying From H1N1

Last updated on August 10th, 2014 at 05:07 pm

Today on his radio show, Rush Limbaugh mocked reports that children are dying from H1N1. Limbaugh accused the administration of using the swine flu body count to promote healthcare. Limbaugh said, “It’s a new battlefield, but the same thing, battlefield deaths, the new swine flu body count, all because the priority is healthcare.”

Here is the audio courtesy of Media Matters:

Limbaugh said, “I got the story in the South Florida Sun Sentinel story, and an AP story, and Kathleen Sebelius and the vaccines, the body count is in there. The number of children who died because of H1N1, and what makes it really odd is that it’s not children who die from the flu, so this must be really bad, its seasoned citizens who normally parish from the flu, but now our future, so it’s the new battle. It’s a new battlefield, but the same thing, battlefield deaths, the new swine flu body count, all because the priority is healthcare.”

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The AP story that Limbaugh is referring to is from Friday. In it the CDC pointed out the normally 46-88 children die from the flu each year, but this year 76 children have already died from the swine flu. I don’t see how this is worthy of being mocked. Limbaugh’s complete lack of compassion for the people who have lost children is not surprising.

Whether you believe that H1N1 is serious threat or not, children have died. Limbaugh is trying to turn the flu into a political issue, but no one in the Obama administration has tied the flu to healthcare reform. People, like Limbaugh, who believe that the two are linked, are doing nothing more than floating a new right wing conspiracy theory.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association