RUSH: Ellen in Magnolia, Texas. Great to have you on the EIB Network. Hi.
CALLER: Hi, Rush. I’m honored to talk to you — and real quick, I wanted to tell you, you sustained me through the years with all the ups and downs of the politics and of our country. But my main point is that I tried to call you November 11th. It’s my birthday, and I’m very honored that my birthday is on Veterans Day, and for my birthday I got one of your T-shirts, and it was the best gift I’ve gotten in a long, long time. I was so thrilled.
RUSH: What, a Betsy Ross shirt?
CALLER: Yes. It’s a long-sleeve woman’s T-shirt. I love it.
RUSH: Ohhh, those were so popular.
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: Those were.
CALLER: I love it.
RUSH: Now, by the way, thank you for that. I need to explain. This audience has a new tune-in factor each day that would boggle your mind. There are people that don’t know what you’re talking about. So let me briefly explain this. I guess it was last summer, Nike… Was it last summer? Was it 2019? (interruption) Yeah, 2019. Man, time is zipping by here. So Fourth of July, Nike announces a brand-new set of sneakers that has the Betsy Ross flag — the original flag, 13 colonies of the United States — on the rear heel, the heel of the shoe.
Here comes Colin Kaepernick saying he doesn’t like it. He doesn’t like the shoe, doesn’t like the flag, doesn’t like the design. Nike said, “Okay. We’ll cancel ’em. We’ll not sell ’em. We’ll put the shoes on the shelves.” This infuriated me. It infuriated a lot of people. Kaepernick said he was upset about cops and their abuse of minorities. Now he’s upset at the country and the flag, and here comes Nike doing his bidding. So, we gave people a way to push back with a charitable tie-in.
We created an entire line of apparel at the RushLimbaugh.com store featuring men and women’s caps, shirts, golf shirts, any number of things with the Betsy Ross flag. The tie-in was to Tunnel to Towers, a charity that raises money for the surviving families of first responders and military people killed in action. It was named after Stephen Siller by his brother, who was a firefighter killed — a first responder — running back into the towers after 9/11 happened. Frank Siller set it up. Well, guess what? The original T-shirt was a $27 item.
It was classy. It was a very, very classy T-shirt, but it was not cotton. Very unique, very unique fabric. We heard from the cotton people. Cotton people said, “What do you mean, selecting a T-shirt that’s not cotton? You gotta get cotton!” So we added a cotton line of apparel, and inside of three months, folks, at a $27 price point, we had raised $5 million in profit that was donated to Tunnel to Towers. I say “we” raised it. You! You produced it. You had us working ’round the clock to fulfill orders. You had us working around the clock to get product.
You had our vendor in Pennsylvania working ’round the clock to print and manufacture all the apparel. It went on for months and months and months — $5 million on a $27 to $34 price point! There were some things more expensive. It was unbelievable, and it was not a profit pursuit for the RushLimbaugh.com store. It was a pure charitable pursuit. It gave people a way to push back against Nike and all of this anti-American, anti-American flag stuff that made no sense.
It infuriated people. That’s an incredible amount of money. That’s an incredible amount of sales. Divide $5 million by just, say, 35 bucks and see how many items had to be sold and fulfilled and delivered. It was one of the most phenomenal things to be a part of, and it happened all last summer from July 4th on through the end of the year. She got hers on November 11th, Veterans Day, and she was just calling to tell me how much she enjoyed it — and it was quality.
Folks, we don’t sell cheap stuff. We don’t stock cheap stuff. Everything in there is quality. We find the best quality stuff at whatever price point we think is good and fair. But it was an incredible amount of money. The fact is that you don’t know about it unless I tell you, unless you were part of it. It raised $5 million, and what’s the news on me? That I’m somehow anti-gay when it comes to Mayor Pete, that I’m “lecturing” him on “family values,” which I haven’t done. But we didn’t do it for the publicity of it.
We did it for the charity and the community spirit of it all. And you guys, you came through in — well, we hadn’t seen anything like it. And I don’t think too many other people have. Imagine that much profit on a relatively moderately priced item to generate $5 million in a period of I guess it was three to four months. You came through like you always do, and it was an honor to be part of it. Anyway, that’s what she was talking about, and that’s why it mattered.
Related Links