Trump to appear on conservative networks in wake of Limbaugh’s death

Former President Trump will appear on Fox News host Sean Hannity’s prime-time show Wednesday evening, the network announced, just hours after breaking his media silence for the first time since leaving office. 

Fox News said in a press release Wednesday afternoon that the 9 p.m. Eastern broadcast of “Hannity” will feature an interview with Trump “to discuss the life and legacy of radio pioneer Rush Limbaugh.”

Trump is also expected to make appearances Wednesday evening on Newsmax and OAN, The Washington Post reported, citing a Trump spokesman.

Limbaugh’s death was announced on his program earlier Wednesday by his wife, Kathryn Limbaugh, a little more than a year after the conservative talk radio host announced his stage 4 lung cancer diagnosis. 

Fox News’s press release added that the entirety of Wednesday evening’s show, “will be dedicated to memorializing Limbaugh,” with additional appearances by Fox News host Mark Levin, former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and Fox contributor Dan Bongino. 

Trump on Wednesday made his first media appearance post-presidency on Fox News’s “Outnumbered” within an hour of the news breaking of Limbaugh’s death. 

Trump, who last year awarded Limbaugh the Presidential Medal of Freedom, praised the conservative radio icon during the “Outnumbered” interview, repeatedly calling him a “legend.” 

“There aren’t too many legends around. But he is a legend,” Trump said on the show via phone. “And those people who listen to him every day, it was like a religious experience for a lot of people.”

He also used the airtime to condemn the Republican establishment, reiterating his false claim that he defeated President Biden in the 2020 election by a wide margin, claims that were at the center of his second impeachment. 

“I think we won substantially. … You would have had riots going all over the place if that happened to a Democrat,” Trump said. “We don’t have the same support at certain levels of the Republican system.”

The remarks came a day after Trump issued a statement condemning Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), calling him “a dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack.”

McConnell on Saturday had said during a Senate floor speech that Trump was “practically and morally” responsible for the Jan. 6 siege on the Capitol because he led his followers to believe the election had been stolen from him.

McConnell’s blistering remarks came after the Senate fell short of the 67 votes required to convict Trump on a charge of inciting the mob attack. McConnell joined most Republicans in voting to acquit Trump, arguing that the trial was outside the Senate’s jurisdiction.

Updated at 5:08 p.m.