On the December 7 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh argued that Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) shouldn't “make this comment about soldiers terrorizing women and children at Christmas-time” and proceeded to claim that Kerry and the Democratic Party are “trying to get Christmas, you know, out of the public consciousness.” Limbaugh's comments came after a caller said she was “upset” about the timing of Kerry's December 4 comments on CBS' Face the Nation. On the program, Kerry criticized President Bush's “policy of failure” in Iraq, and said, "[T]here is no reason ... that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the -- of -- the historical customs, religious customs. ... Iraqis should be doing that."

As Media Matters for America has previously documented, on the December 5 broadcast of his radio show, Limbaugh distorted Kerry's statement to claim that he had called U.S. troops “terrorists.” Limbaugh repeated the distortion on his December 7 show, stating "[T]o John Kerry, the troops are one of two things: They're either a bunch of murdering, marauding terrorists or they're nothing more than those little grade school play -- playground patrol boys -- you know, who walk out in the street with a -- I was one when I was a kid."

Limbaugh continued, asserting, “There's a movement against public displays of Christmas” and that “the ones trying to stamp Christmas out” are “a bunch of liberals and most of them are Democrats --[a] bunch of secularists and atheists and so forth.”

From the December 7 broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh Show:

LIMBAUGH: In his trial, this time refusing to show up -- I'll have all the details and sound bites coming up then but first, Atlanta, [caller], you're next. Great to have you on the program today.

CALLER: Thank you, Rush, and Christmas dittos to you.

LIMBAUGH: Thank you.

CALLER: When you played Kerry's comments at the beginning of the show, I just got so upset. And then I called --

LIMBAUGH: Was that the first time you'd heard them?

CALLER: -- and then I called you.

LIMBAUGH: Was that -- was that the first time you'd heard them?

CALLER: Well, no, I'd heard 'em and so -- at like, I guess -- well, I listen to your show almost every day --

LIMBAUGH: Yeah.

CALLER: -- so I had heard 'em earlier but a just residual anger here has built up to the point -- I'm in a women's group and we've been spending the last couple of weeks putting together items for soldiers -- boxes to send. Instead of doing a gift swap with each other, this year, we said, "You know, we're at war. We have young soldiers overseas. Let's do something for them." So we --

LIMBAUGH: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait --

CALLER: -- especially. I was gonna spend the time organizing --

LIMBAUGH: Hold it. Hold it. Let me -- wait, wait, wait, wait, wait just a second.

CALLER: Then I --

LIMBAUGH: Bottom line here: you're assembling Christmas gift packages for soldiers?

CALLER: Correct.

LIMBAUGH: And you're upset that Kerry would make this comment about soldiers terrorizing women and children at Christmas-time?

CALLER: Yes. I mean, here it is, it's Christmas, for goodness sakes, and --

LIMBAUGH: Well, now, wait a minute. John Kerry is a member of the political party that's trying to get Christmas, you know, out of the public consciousness. Why, why should this surprise you?

CALLER: Um --

LIMBAUGH: Well, don't -- Snerdley's in the there laughing. You think I'm making this up? I'm not. There's a movement against public displays of Christmas. Christmas trees gotta go. Nativity scenes gotta go. You live in -- you live in a place that banned a nativity scene this year.

CALLER: Ah, well --

LIMBAUGH: Snerd, Snerdley lives so -- look -- it ain't Republicans doing this.

CALLER: I know. Well --

LIMBAUGH: It's a bunch of liberals, and most of them are Democrats. They're the ones tryin' to stamp Christmas out. A bunch of secularists and atheists and so forth. What, what bug -- what bugs 'em about it? What, what, what offends them about Christmas? I'll give you one word: G-o-d.

CALLER: Yeah.

LIMBAUGH: So, so, so here we have -- I mean, I think, I think Kerry doing this at Christmas time -- he didn't even stop to think of it.

CALLER: I know. It should be a time of reflection and being thankful and --

LIMBAUGH: Well, it is. John Kerry reflects on himself every moment of the day. He never stops thinking about himself. That's what this is all about. He's not thinking about the troops. He's not thinking about Christmas. He's not thinking about the effect on these troops. He wants everybody to think of how brilliant and forward-thinking he is. And you don't dare question this man as I did, otherwise you're called a donut-eating draft-dodger --

CALLER: Well --

LIMBAUGH: -- which, as I said earlier, I eat Boston cream puffs. I spit most of them out. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

CALLER: You know, somewhat on the side of -- you know, our troops -- a little tiny -- you know, if you're a senator?

LIMBAUGH: Ah, well, he supports the troops. He said so. He supports -- that's what this is about. All about the troops' safety. He doesn't want the troops to ever have to go to war because that puts them in danger.

We must have -- to John Kerry, the troops are one of two things: They're either a bunch of murdering, marauding terrorists or they're nothing more than those little grade school play -- playground patrol boys -- you know, who walk out in the street with a -- I was one when I was a kid.

School's out. You go out there -- I was a patrol boy 'cause you got out of school early to go put the uniform on, stand on the corner and go out there with a little pole and a flag on it and stop traffic while the little 6-year-olds and 7-year-olds walked across the street.

That's what he thinks of the military. "They're there for their safety. We're not supposed to endanger them."

But when we put 'em in danger, of course, then they turn into these marauding, atrocity-creating people that we -- we can't -- it's just horrible, folks.