Rush Limbaugh has lost dozens of advertisers and at least two radio stations since he made a widely-criticized series of misogynistic attacks against Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke. Limbaugh's comments were in keeping with a long record of sexist comments.
But women are not the only targets of Limbaugh's abusive vitriol.
Here are 10 of the worst smears of low-income Americans that Limbaugh's advertisers have sponsored since 2006:
On June 16, 2010, Limbaugh belittled children who rely on free school meals when he said:
You know, one of the benefits of school being out, in addition to your kids losing weight because they're starving to death out there because there's no school meal being provided, one of the benefits of school being out, college campi being vacant this time of year, is that our audience levels go up. I think, you know what we're going to do here, we're going to start a feature on this program: “Where to find food.” For young demographics, where to find food. Now that school is out, where to find food. We can have a daily feature on this. And this will take us all the way through the summer. Where to find food. And, of course, the first will be: “Try your house.” It's a thing called the refrigerator. You probably already know about it. Try looking there. There are also things in what's called the kitchen of your house called cupboards. And in those cupboards, most likely you're going to find Ding-Dongs, Twinkies, Lays ridgy potato chips, all kinds of dips and maybe a can of corn that you don't want, but it will be there. If that doesn't work, try a Happy Meal at McDonald's. You know where McDonald's is. There's the Dollar Menu at McDonald's and if they don't have Chicken McNuggets, dial 911 and ask for Obama.
There's another place if none of these options work to find food; there's always the neighborhood dumpster. Now, you might find competition with homeless people there, but there are videos that have been produced to show you how to healthfully dine and how to dumpster dive and survive until school kicks back up in August. Can you imagine the benefit we would provide people?
The next day Limbaugh's website posted the following graphic:
On February 25, 2010, Limbaugh attacked Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) for telling a story about a woman who was forced to wear her dead sister's dentures because she did not have health insurance or the means to pay for dentures out of pocket, saying:
So if you don't have any teeth, so what? What's applesauce for? Isn't that why they make applesauce?
On December 12, 2011, Limbaugh continued to belittle children who receive free school meals, calling them:
Wanton little waifs and serfs dependent on the state.
On November 16, 2010, Limbaugh mocked the idea of people “fighting off hunger,” saying:
Have you seen people fighting off hunger? But you can actually see it. You go inside Publix or any grocery, you see them walk down the aisles, they're reaching for something, and they don't. It's an amazing thing to watch, people fighting off hunger.
On August 29, 2006, Limbaugh attacked a fundraising campaign for the United Nations' Children Fund (UNICEF), saying:
I mean, for decades, all over the world, we've been beat about the head that there are hungry people out there, that they are starving. UNICEF -- how many of you trick-or-treated for UNICEF? Did you “Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF,” Brian? We all did -- did you? We all trick-or-treated. One of the biggest scams on the face of the earth. It was -- the scam was to get everybody loving the United Nations. The scam was to get everybody thinking the United Nations is feeding poor people. Remember all these stories: “A dime a day will feed 20 kids in some outward place around the world”?
[...]
This is what happens when you let the left run things. We've been beat about the head. There are hungry people everywhere. UNICEF got it all started. We've seen the babies with the extended tummies, the walking skeletons, told that kids can't learn unless they're fed. We've been guilted into pouring resources on the problem.
On October 8, 2010, Limbaugh said about economic equality:
[S]ome people are self-starters, and some people are born lazy. Some people are born victims. Some people are just born to be slaves. Some people are born to put up with somebody else making every decision for them.
On April 21, 2011, Limbaugh said listeners should ask young people:
Do you know any low-income people who want to get a better job? ... Do they even want to work?
On September 13, 2011, Limbaugh read from a report on appliance ownership of low-income Americans and said:
More than half of poor families with children - defined as poor by our government - have a video game system with either an X-Box or a PlayStation. More than half. I don't even have an X-Box or a PlayStation. The poor have something that I don't have - well, more than half of the poor.
On February 21, 2012, Limbaugh said of low-income people:
[I]n many cases, speaking bluntly, the people that don't do well have only themselves to blame. And those who have no control over themselves are the ones we help.
On April 6, 2011, Limbaugh blasted government safety net programs and those who depend on them:
Democrats get their power by enslaving minorities through welfare. Let's just say it the way it really is. They create a class of utter dependent slaves, people who end up being addicts, who know no other way to get through the day, who know no other way to get through life. ... The Democrat Party is waiting to glom to them, and basically turn them into parasites.