After mocking Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) by asking “who owned and who sold her” after she described herself as a “freed slave,” Rush Limbaugh doubled down with a slew of even more vicious slavery-based attacks on Jackson Lee.
On his February 14 radio show, Limbaugh reacted to Jackson Lee's comments that she was a “freed slave” due to Civil War-era bipartisanship by asking “who owned and who sold her.” The next day, after a listener said he'd called Jackson Lee's office and been hung up on, Limbaugh doubled down on his comments, speculating that her “owner” may have gotten a “good deal” because Jackson Lee “might have outlived her usefulness on the plantation” and her “child-rearing years are over”:
LIMBAUGH: So Victor called her office. She said Wednesday that she was standing there on the floor of the House as a freed slave. And we were asking, who owned her? We played the sound bite on Wednesday and we wanted to know who her owner was, and we wanted to know how much he got for her. You know, was it a good deal when he sold her, or did he just get rid of her? She might have outlived her usefulness on the plantation. I mean, [you] never know, child-rearing years are over so maybe her value had plummeted. These are valid questions that we had. So Victor, loyal member of this large audience, called her office and said, “Who owned her? Who sold Congresswoman Lee?” And they [said] “What, are you insane?” and hung up on him. A very, very mean thing to do. He was just reacting to something that he had heard her say.
So they won't admit, when you call her office, who sold her. They won't admit who owned her. They won't admit any aspect of the deal that resulted in her freedom. But she did say she was free. She's not a slave anymore. She was, maybe that morning. But somebody sold her. I imagine Jamie Foxx brokered the deal somehow, probably rode in with a six-shooter [with] Quentin Tarantino and they took care of it. Maybe the owner doesn't want to be known and they're covering it all up.