On the September 29 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh claimed that "[t]here can only be one reason" the producers of the CBS reality TV program Survivor decided to dissolve the show's competing teams, which had been divided into four “tribes” comprised of African-American, white, Asian-American, and Latino members, into two mixed-race groups after only two episodes -- “the white tribe had to be winning.” As Media Matters for America noted, Limbaugh originally asserted that saying “blacks can't swim” “is not a racial or racist comment at all” while “handicap[ping]” the new season of Survivor. He also stated that Hispanics have “probably shown the most survival tactics,” that they “have shown a remarkable ability to cross borders,” and that they can “do it without water for a long time. They don't get apprehended, and they will do things other people won't do.”

From the September 29 broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh Show:

LIMBAUGH: Well, it didn't take long for this. After only two episodes, producers at CBS -- the TV show Survivor, you know they -- they segregated all those tribes by race and by ethnicity -- but after only two episodes, the segregation has ended. They have merged the black, white, Asian, and Latino tribes into two mixed-race gangs. There can only be one reason for this, ladies and gentlemen -- that is the white tribe had to be winning. Were -- were it not for that, there would be none of this mixed-gang business going on after only two episodes.