RUSH: Well, well, well, well, Snerdley and I just spent the last half hour sitting here watching Donald Trump’s announcement that he’s going to run for president, and we were laughing ourselves silly. I mean, it was a howl session. But, at the same time, there’s no doubt in my mind — I’ll tell you what this is shaping up to be. For those of you who have the long-term memory and in this for the long game, think Perot. Think Ross Perot. Remember the reaction people had to Ross Perot. And I’m not comparing Trump’s speech. Perot got going with a speech to the National Press Club that was on C-SPAN.

It was amazing, actually, because it was a noontime speech, but it was all about spending and debt spending and how the US was second-rate in every regard and how it was silly and how he could fix it. There was no intimation that he was gonna run for president at that time. That’s what made the speech that Perot gave so attractive and attracted so much attention to it. Trump did the same kind of thing here with similar focus, except he made it official today he’s running for president.

By the way, greetings, and welcome back. Rush Limbaugh, the EIB Network, 800-282-2882.

Let me just give you a little summary. We’re still rolling tape here, assembling the audio sound bites. He started out — it’s hard to say when he started because there’s so much here, I don’t remember where it all happened. But, for example, he said about Mexico (imitating Trump), “They’re sending us they’re worst people. They’re sending us criminals. They’re sending us the poor. They’re just bad people. Some of them may be good people but they’re just bad people, and we don’t need ’em.” And it resonated. That’s gonna resonate. There’s a whole bunch of people, just like Perot resonated.

And the Drive-By Media, by the way, they’re already scoffing, they’re already discounting it, already calling it a circus act and this kind of thing. And it was. I mean, it was not at all what he passed out. He had a ten-minute speech that he gave out that was embargoed that was not what he did today. You know, Trump’s many things. He’s a serious businessman, he’s a performer — he’s got a performer’s ego. That was on display today, and some days when you see him he’s dead serious about things.

This was improv. It was by no means on a teleprompter. (laughing) He said at the end of the speech (imitating Trump), “And I’m gonna build a wall. It’s gonna be the biggest, it’s gonna be the best wall. There’s isn’t gonna be a better wall anywhere in the world. We’re gonna build a wall on the Southern border and we’re gonna make Mexico pay for it.” And the place went nuts. And then he said, leading up to announcing his net worth, which he said is required when you run for president, you gotta submit the numbers. He had this one piece of paper that he said his best accounting firm in the world had put together. It took months because he’s so rich.

He said (imitating Trump), “I’m really rich. I’m really rich. I’m gonna show you in a minute here. I’m really rich.” You know, it’s things like that you just… (laughing) I’ll tell you something that happened. I was riveted watching this for a whole host of reasons and the phone rang, and I got mad because when there’s a secondary noise in the room, I can’t hear what I’m trying to hear. Like two people talking at the same time, I’m not able to comprehend either of them.

So I’m watching, I’ve got the sound up, which is very rare, and the phone started ringing, and nobody in the rest of the office here picked it up, and I just yelled, “Answer the [blank, blank] phone,” ’cause I wanted to hear what Trump was saying. And I stopped myself. Wait a minute. Look what just happened here. There hasn’t been a single other person give a political speech in years that if the phone rang and interrupted ’em I’d have been mad.

Now, don’t misunderstand that. You know me, I’m not endorsing, haven’t endorsed. I’m nowhere near any of that. I’m not even jazzed yet, folks. I have to tell you that this is all so premature, and it’s all so early, that whatever polling numbers there are just do not interest me because where we are right now is nowhere near where we’re gonna end up. And I’ve had a premonition, after all we’re talking about a presidential race with Hillary Clinton in it, last name is Clinton.

Oh, that’s another thing. He’s talking about the prison escape and he’s attacking all the “losers” in the American government. (paraphrased) “Losers here, losers there. We’re the dumbest people. China’s beating us. China’s wiping us out.” But he loves China. He’s building buildings all over China, but the Chinese (paraphrased), “We need smart people to beat the Chinese. We’re losing. We’re losing to ISIS.” He said (paraphrased), “We should have had the oil in Iraq; instead Iran’s got it.

“We’re the losers. Our airports are Third World. Hell, I come back from Qatar, I come back from anywhere in the world, I’ve just been to a great airport, and I land at LAX and LaGuardia; it’s a Third World airport! America has Third World airports.” (clapping) The crowd’s cheering. I know a lot of people are gonna agree with that. He starts talking about this prison escape up in New York, and (paraphrased), “Obviously it happened because we have the stupidest people running our prisons. We have the stupidest people in the police force chasing these guys.”

He can’t believe they’re not caught yet. (paraphrased) “Any responsible country with great leaders, these guys would have been caught.” But he turned that into a political comment on the Second Amendment. He said (paraphrased), “This is exactly why we need the Second Amendment. We need the Second Amendment. We need people with guns. We need people able to defend themselves. We got this prison break up there; our losers in charge of this can’t even capture these guys yet.

“A woman called me the other day and said. ‘Mr. Trump, I am joining you now in support of the Second Amendment. I used to hate the Second Amendment but now you have convinced me. So now my husband and I are on the same page because he already likes guns, and Mr. Trump, I just want to tell you: We now have a gun in every room. We’re ready to start shooting these guys!'” (laughing) That’s when I lost it. “We’re ready to shoot!” (laughing)

Snerdley’s watching this thing with his mouth half open for long stretches of time. That’s why we’re working here…the audio. But remember Perot? That ended up being third-party, and it gave us Bill Clinton, arguably. I know some people claim that even had Perot not run, that George H. W. Bush wouldn’t have won. They looked at the polling data in the postelection analytical data, and some people think that Bush would have lost anyway.

But you can see this setting up. If Trump decides to go third-party, if anybody goes third party, then you could say, “Hello, Hillary,” and Hillary’s an absolute disaster. Could we just…? I mean, this is something that I don’t get. This is what bamboozles. If that’s the best the Democrats can come up with, they don’t deserve to win anything. That’s the best they’ve got, Mrs. Clinton is an absolute disaster.

The best thing she’s got going for her is there’s a (D) by her name and that’s why she’s gonna get the majority of votes that she’s gonna get. Outside of that, I don’t think… It’s the same thing: I don’t understand the fear. I do not understand why people are so afraid of Hillary Clinton. I understand respect for all of the shenanigans the Clintons are able to pull off. I’m talking about just individually. I don’t get the fear that I still find prevalent out there on the Republican side.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Okay we got the Trump sound bites. Let’s get started here. They’re not any particular order here. We just cherry-picked.

TRUMP: Our country is in serious trouble. We don’t have victories anymore. We used to have victories, but we don’t have ’em. When was the last time anybody saw us beating, let’s say, China in a trade deal. They kill us. I beat China all the time

AUDIENCE: (applause)

TRUMP: When did we beat Japan at anything? They send their cars over by the millions, and what do we do? When was the last time you saw a Chevrolet in Tokyo? It doesn’t exist, folks. They beat us all the time. When do we beat Mexico at the border? They’re laughing at us, at our stupidity.

RUSH: This is gonna resonate with a lot of people, I guarantee you, and the Drive-Bys are gonna pooh-pooh it. They’re gonna relegate it to the carnival characteristics of the campaign and so forth, but it’s gonna resonate, just like Perot did. Do not misunderstand this. It is gonna resonate with a lot of, as you hear more of this. Now, this bit about we’re in serious trouble. (summarized) “When was the last time we beat China? They kill us. When’s the last time we beat Japan at anything?”

You know what a lot of people’s reaction that’s gonna be? (sniveling) “But should we be beating anybody? Why can’t we cooperate? We can’t we all just get along? Why do we have to beat China? That’s just gonna make China mad. Why do we have to beat the Japanese? Why did we always do that before? Wasn’t that when we were bad country, always beating everybody? Why do there have to be winners and losers? Why do we have to do that?”

That’s the reaction a lot of people are gonna have because that’s the way they’ve been raised. “It’s unfair to beat anybody. It’s unfair. Competition is not necessary. Conflict resolution, that’s what we need. We need to compromise, get along, be bipartisan.” It’s gonna scare a lot of people. Beating the Chinese, beating the Japanese. These are people that are ignorant, who have no idea that what Trump says here is actually true. Make no mistake.

Look, the Chinese just hacked every government employee!

Why do you think they did that?

You don’t think the ChiComs consider us an enemy? They sure as heck do. You don’t think Putin considers us as an enemy? He sure as heck does. We’re an enemy simply because we’re the lone superpower anymore. It’s how you deal with that, that distinguishes you. Trump’s point is (paraphrased), “We don’t have anybody doing it. We don’t have any smart people at all in positions of authority and power making decisions on anything that matter,” which he made clear in his speech today.

Here’s the next bite…

TRUMP: All of my life, I’ve heard that a truly successful person — a really, really successful person — and even modestly successful, cannot run for public office. Just can’t happen. And yet that’s the kind of mind-set that you need to make this country great again. So, ladies and gentlemen, I am officially running for president of the United States, and we are going to make our country great again.

RUSH: Now, one thing. He does not make excuses for who he is, he doesn’t apologize for his wealth, and he claims that people like him are the kind of people that need to be in political leadership positions but they don’t dare do it because of all the different possibilities that could happen to ’em. He says instead of criticizing people like him, instead of targeting people like him, we need people like him in positions of authority and power making decisions ’cause we need the smart people — the smartest people we’ve got — running this country. We don’t have that now.

Here’s the next bite….

TRUMP: I will be the greatest jobs president that God ever created. I tell you that.

AUDIENCE: (cheers and applause)

TRUMP: I don’t need anybody’s money. I’m using my own money. I’m not using the lobbyists. I’m not using donors. I don’t care. I’m really rich. I’ll show you that in a second. And, by the way, I’m not even saying that in a braggadocios way. That’s the kind of mind-set, that’s the kind of thinking you need for this country.

WOMAN: Absolutely!

TRUMP: So ’cause we gotta make the country rich, it sounds crass. Somebody said, “Oh, that’s crass.”

WOMAN: Uh-uh!

TRUMP: It’s not crass.

RUSH: It’s not crass. Now, can you hear Mitt Romney saying, “I’m rich. I’m really rich. I’ll acknowledge it. They’re all calling me rich. I’m really rich — I’ll show you here in a minute — and I’m proud of it.” No. Romney will go buy a station wagon, put the dog on the roof, and go on vacation. Trump’s out there flying his Boeing 757 with his name on it in 14-karat gold on the fuselage. He’s out bragging about everything he’s done because he’s proud of it.

He’s proud of his success, he’s proud of his achievements, and he wants people to know. He says he’s not bragging ’cause he doesn’t have to brag. He’s not ashamed of any of it and he doesn’t want to put on any airs and act like it was an accident or act like he doesn’t deserve it, because he does deserve it. He told a story. He grew up in Queens and Brooklyn; his dad was a great negotiator and he learned a lot from his dad. But his dad said, “Donald, don’t ever take our business into Manhattan.

“It’s a cesspool over there. It’s too big. We’re right where we need to be.” Trump said he told him, “‘But, Dad, I gotta go to Manhattan. I gotta go to Manhattan! That’s where the action is, Dad.’ And I went to Manhattan, and look what I own. I own the Bank of American, I own Trump Tower, and am rebuilding the greatest hotel in Washington, DC. I’m doing all of this. I’m very proud of this! I make no excuses for any of it. I am really rich. I’ll show you in a minute. And I’m not bragging.”

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Folks, a lot to do here. We got four more sound bites of Trump. I alluded to something here one hour ago when this program began. I asked you to keep something in mind, and that was Ross Perot. Ross Perot burst on the scene as a result of one speech at the National Press Club. It was a luncheon speech, if I remember right. It ended up being replayed because it went viral back in those days. This was 1992, so “going viral” was C-SPAN. (laughing) Stop and think of that, Snerdley! Going viral was C-SPAN.

Anyway, it did, and all Trump did was talk about the irresponsibility of the current lineup. He didn’t rip into parties. He didn’t cast himself as a member of a party. He just said (paraphrased), “We’re doing everything wrong. We’re wasting money. There’s all kinds of things we could be doing smarter,” and he made himself out to be the guy in charge of it, and he was dragged into presidential race. I remember from the get-go, warning people to be careful about this ’cause I told people…

Snerdley, you might remember this. My broadcast partners… I did not get on the Perot bandwagon, and I constantly warned people not to do it and to beware. I said, “I don’t think he really wants to win this. He’ll get out of this if it looks like he’s gonna win. He doesn’t want to be president. There’s something else going on, personal animus of George Bush, something going on here. But this is not who you…” I remember my broadcast partner, syndication part, took me aside.

They said, “Look…” They thought he was blowing the show. They… (interruption) Well, I was I was catching hell from so some people, but they made a great calculation. This is this is one of in fact this turned out to be one of the first solid learning experiences for me about you in this audience. Because back then, it would be safe to say that a majority of people listening to me thought that I should be the one championing Perot.

That I not only should be championing Perot, I ought to be running with him, or I ought to be part of his organization. I ought to be the lead cheerleader. And I was the one cautioning everybody, ‘Don’t do it. Don’t fall for it.’ I even had my own little Perot impersonation which ticked people off. Anyway, my syndication partner Ed McLaughlin brought me in, very worried. “Are you sure you’re doing the right thing here on Perot?”

I said, “What do you mean?”

“Well, I mean, your audience! We’re worried here you’re losing the audience. The audience thinks that you are Perot. The audience thinks that Perot is who he is because of you. You need to get on…”

I said, “Sorry, but I can’t do it. I don’t feel it, don’t believe it,” and so forth.

I did catch a lot of flak from the audience. But the audience hung in. They didn’t abandon the program, Snerdley. (interruption) Well, of course they threatened to. I remember it like it was yesterday. Oh, they were calling. “I’m never gonna listen to you again! I thought you were somebody real, but you’ve just proven you’re nothing more than a member of the establishment. Here’s your chance to really get on board with something that could really change this country, and what are you doing? You’re pooh-poohing it!”

I remember all of it. Oh, and when I started the parodies of Perot, you know, referring to him as a hand grenade with a bad haircut? “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, ha-ha!” (laughing) Oh, it got even worse. My syndication partners, oh, they were so worried that I was blowing everything. They thought that I was losing every member of the audience that we had built after four years, but I hung tough and I turned out to be right!

Perot got out of the race when it looked like he was going to win, and that just gave everything over to Bill Clinton. He stated… He hung in there for some presidential debates. Anyway, I just ask people to remember that when Trump gets going here today, because what if Trump goes third-party? He’s got enough money. He doesn’t need consultants. In fact, there’s not a political consultant alive today that would have told Trump to say anything he said today.

There’s not a single political consultant working in politics that would have advised Trump to say what he said today or would stand by and watch it said. There’s no political consultant on earth in this country that would want to be associated with what Trump did today. So he’s not gonna get his pick. But if he does, his money talks. He might hire some away. You never know. But my point is that he can always decide to go third-party with his money, if it doesn’t work in the Republican Party.

If he does that — and this is idle speculation at this point in time. If he does that, well, you know what that’s gonna mean. It means Hillary. Or whoever the Democrat nominee is. Along those lines, we got a lot of people want to talk about this. If you’re on hold, just hang in there. We’re coming to you. I promise you; I guarantee it. This is from The Daily Caller. I looked it up here during the break.

“Between 1989 and 2010, The Donald gave $314,300 to Democratic groups and candidates and $290,600 to Republicans…” Trump actually donates more to Democrats than Republicans. Now, what he’ll say is, “Well, hell, that’s who runs New York. That’s where I live. I got no choice.” But still. “Trump donated more than $4,100 to [Hillary] in 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2007, records show.

“Trump Jr. gave [Hillary] $6,100 in 2006 and 2007.” He gave “the Clinton Foundation at least $100,000, according to the Clinton Foundation website.” Now, again, what he’ll say is, “Of course! I mean, these are the people running the show. It’s what’s wrong with politics. I had to do it. I had to do it. I got no choice. I’m a Republican; I live in New York. If I didn’t do this, I’d be a target. That’s what’s wrong with politics and that’s why I’m running.

“You think I like giving money to Democrats? I hate giving money to Democrats! But that’s what our politics is.” I know that’s how he would handle this. (interruipton) Yeah. “It’s how I keep my money in my pocket. I give to the people who otherwise would take my money away from me. You don’t think I got rich by being stupid, do you?” He’s got any number of ways of explaining. Okay, back to the Trump sound bites here. We pick it up here with number 37. This is classic, folks.

TRUMP: Through stupidity, in a very, very hard-core prison — interestingly named Clinton — two vicious murderers, two vicious people, escaped, and nobody knows where they are. And a woman was on television this morning, and she said, “You know, Mr. Trump…” And she was telling other people, and I actually called her. But she said, “You know, Mr. Trump, I always was against guns. I didn’t want guns! And now since this happened,” it’s up in the prison area, “my husband and I are finally in agreement ’cause he wanted the guns. We now have a gun in every table! We’re ready to start shooting.” I said, “Very interesting.” So protect the Second Amendment.

RUSH: “We’re ready to start shooting, Mr. Trump!” (laughing) I lost it. (laughing) I saw him say, “We’re ready to start shooting.” (laughing) I just envisioned the actual conversation. Here’s Trump on the phone, he’s got this anti-Second Amendment babe on the other end, and because of two prisoners escape from the stupid prison, they now have a gun in every table. “We’re ready to start shooting!” (laughing) “‘Very interesting.’ So protect the Second Amendment.” They’re ready to start shooting.

Yeah, let’s just keep it rolling here, folks.

TRUMP: They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people. But I speak to border guards, and they tell us what we’re getting, and it only makes common sense. It only makes common sense. They’re sending us not the right people. It’s coming from more than Mexico. It’s coming from all over South and Latin America and it’s coming probably — probably — from the Middle East. But we don’t know ’cause we have no protection and we have no competence. We don’t know what’s happening.

RUSH: This is Trump at his presidential announcement speech describing the kind of people coming here from Mexico. “They’re sending people that have lots of problems. They’re bringing these problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists, and some I assume are good people.” (laughing) I assume? (imitating Trump), “Most are reprobates and because we got stupid leadership, we don’t even know who they are.” And now here’s how he would deal with it.

TRUMP: I would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me, and I’ll build ’em very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our Southern border, and I will have Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words. Nobody would be tougher on ISIS than Donald Trump. Nobody. I will find within our military, I will find the General Patton or I will find General MacArthur, I will find the right guy, I will find the guy that’s going to take that military and make it really work.

RUSH: Yeah? And this is gonna resonate. All of this, all of this I’m telling you is gonna resonate with people. And here’s something else to watch. The more the media hates this and makes fun of it and laughs, the more support Trump’s gonna get. There was another, we don’t have tape on this. It wasn’t worth rolling on tape, but he was talking about beating China, beating Japan and how we don’t have any skilled negotiators. We got dumb people. We’ve got incompetent people. We’ve got losers in every branch of government conducting the nation’s business, and they don’t know what they’re doing.

He says (imitating Trump), I have the smartest people. I’ll get the smartest people. We will never, ever again lose a negotiation with the Chinese or the Japanese. We’re gonna beat everybody. We’ll do very well, my friends, we’ll do very well, I promise you.” (laughing) And the final bite. This is his description of returning home to America after international travel.

TRUMP: We have to rebuild our infrastructure, our bridges, our roadways, our airports. You come into LaGuardia airport, it’s like we’re in a Third World country. You look at the patches in 40-year-old floor, they throw down asphalt, and they throw — you look at these airports, we are like a Third World country, and I come in from China, and I come in from Qatar, and I come in from different places, and they have the most incredible airports in the world. You come back to this country and you have LAX, disaster. You have all of these disastrous airports.

RUSH: And we’ll take a break and get going with your calls when we get back. Don’t go away.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Here’s Bob in Youngstown, as we get started on the phones. Great to have you, Bob. Hi.

CALLER: Mr. Limbaugh, you’re 100% on the money with Ross Perot. I remember that conversation. I remember your criticism at the time. And you were 100% correct, and I was on your team at that point where I felt exactly the same way, that this was really much ado about nothing where Perot was concerned. But the difference between Perot and this other gentleman is 180 degrees the opposite. This guy’s ego is so big, and he considered himself to be so right for so long that I genuinely think he wants this and I genuinely think that he is truly the establishment’s worst nightmare. He doesn’t need anybody else’s money.

I was watching Fox News this morning when one of their commentators was interviewing some political know-it-all, and he said, “Oh, well, you know, he’s getting into the game too late. The people that know how to run a campaign are all taken up, the good ones.” And I’m thinking to myself, he doesn’t want any of those people. He has his own people. He doesn’t want the establishment. This is a guy that knows how to promote himself and how to promote a campaign, and I think the guy’s for real this time, only because he’s got such a damn big ego that he’s gonna prove himself right and he’s gonna be in your face.

RUSH: I think you’re very right about something you mentioned, talking heads on TV today, “Ah, there’s no chance. I mean, all the professional people have been hired already. He’s getting in this thing too late.” What Trump loves busting is conventional wisdom formulation. And the idea —

CALLER: Agree.

RUSH: — that he can’t run because all the best consultants are taken up, that’s exactly the kind of thing he thinks is paralyzing politics. That kind of thinking that you’ve gotta get in this, hire the right consultants. The way he looks at it, what you just said, he doesn’t need an advisor. He knows what he thinks. He doesn’t need somebody to help me him do this or that. He knows how he wants to talk. He knows how he wants to come off. He’s comfortable in his own skin and he’s willing to put it out there. In other words, I don’t think he wants to hire anybody that’s gonna tell him how to phony it up.

CALLER: Exactly right. He’s got more money than God. And plus he’s got the best of the best working for him. He’s got a brain trust that would rival any university and he’s got people that know how to get the job done. These are goal oriented people that work for him. And believe me, his ego is so big that he wants to just stand up there and say, “I told you so. I’ve been telling you for years.” The difference is Perot was really kind of a wallflower prior to him running. You’re a hundred percent correct about that. And you were right, he didn’t want that job, and he found every excuse — I remember his daughter’s wedding was kind of the opening to him finding a way out of running for the presidency.

RUSH: Oh, yeah.

CALLER: Trump’s the exact opposite. This guy wants it, and he wants to say “I told you so, I’ve been telling you, and I’m gonna show you I’m right.”

RUSH: Wait a minute. So you —

CALLER: As far as negotiations go —

RUSH: — are convinced after this speech today that he wants it. Let me ask you a question.

CALLER: Yes, sir.

RUSH: I want you to think about this. A lot of the Drive-Bys are saying, “Nah, nah, this is not about really running for president. This is just about name recognition, name ID, get his name out there.” For what purpose? If he’s not really doing this to run for president, why does he want to get his name out there? What could he possibly want to accomplish? Is he hurting somewhere? Is his business hurting? Is his reality TV show on the verge of cancellation? What would be the reason that he would do this for publicity only?

CALLER: I truly believe, and I just have to go back to my original statement. He’s got an ego bigger than the sun, and he’s been telling the American people and Washington for years, “You really don’t know what you’re talking about. You really have no idea how to run this country. You’re destroying the economy. You’re destroying the money and I’ve had enough. I’m gonna show you I’m right, and I’m gonna get in there and I’m gonna kick butt and take names later.” And I really think that that’s what this is all about. And I’ll tell you something, the establishment are probably the most worried people in Washington. The big money — he doesn’t use any lobbyists. He’s got more money than they do.

RUSH: Wait a minute. One thing. They’re not worried yet. They’re not taking this seriously yet. They’re laughing about this right now. Do not doubt me. They’re laughing about it. I mean, you might have a couple of them take a moment and say, “Okay, what does this mean for me, XYZ so forth so,” in terms of just another name thrown in the hat here. But right now they’re all laughing. And none of the, quote, unquote, professionals are gonna give Trump anywhere near even half a chance, because he’s so outside the formula that everybody says is necessary.

And folks, I want to remind you of something else that happened. I’m not accusing here our old buddy Bob, but Bob seemed to know quite a bit about what Trump’s motivation was, didn’t he? I don’t know if Bob’s ever met Trump, but when you listen to Bob talk he knew exactly why Trump was doing this. I found this phenomena during the Perot era. I had caller after caller after caller telling me why Perot was doing it, what Perot was gonna do after he won, everything, and they didn’t know him. Now, what it meant was that Perot was resonating so well that these people just automatically assumed Perot was gonna do what they wanted done.