Newt

Newt Gingrich is the latest to distance himself from Rush Limbaugh following 'slut' comments as SEVENTH advertiser pulls out of show

Newt Gingrich was the latest Republican presidential candidate to distance himself from the controversial radio commentator Rush Limbaugh following his tirade against a law student that he deemed a 'slut'.

Appearing on a Sunday morning news program, Mr Gingrich said that it was 'silly' to suggest that Mr Limbaugh speaks on behalf of the entire Republican party, and that he glad that Mr Limbaugh issued an apology to Sandra Fluke, the woman at the heart of the debate.

Following her appearance at a hearing in support of President Obama's quest to have all employers pay for birth control through health insurance policies, Mr Limbaugh called the 30-year-old Ms Fluke a 'prostitute' and suggested that she could make enough money to pay for her birth control by posting videos of herself having sex online.

Mr Gingrich's fellow candidates already responded, with each varying in their severity.

Rick Santorum said that the comments were 'absurd' and Ron Paul said that they were 'crude'.

Mitt Romney tried to tactfully avoid the issue at several campaign events before finally saying Mr Limbaugh's remarks were 'not the language I would have used'.

After refusing to retract his name calling from Wednesday, Mr Limbaugh decided to double down on Thursday and dig himself deeper into the issue.

Only after a number of advertisers announced that they would be withdrawing their ads from his show did the radio host apologize, saying that he 'did not mean a personal attack on Ms Fluke' but was simply trying to make a point.

'For over 20 years, I have illustrated the absurd with absurdity,' he said in his statement that he released on Saturday.

That was not enough to calm the nerves of at least one advertiser, however, as the CEO of Carbonite- a former sponsor of Mr Limbaugh's show- said that they would not reverse their decision. 'No one with daughters the age of Sandra Fluke, and I have two, could possibly abide the insult and abuse heaped upon this courageous and well-intentioned young lady,' wrote the company's CEO David Friend on their website.

'Mr. Limbaugh, with his highly personal attacks on Miss Fluke, overstepped any reasonable bounds of decency. Even though Mr. Limbaugh has now issued an apology, we have nonetheless decided to withdraw our advertising from his show.

'If we are going to pay for your contraceptives and thus pay for you to have sex... we want you to post the videos online so we can all watch'

Rush Limbaugh

'We hope that our action, along with the other advertisers who have already withdrawn their ads, will ultimately contribute to a more civilized public discourse.'

In addition to the online security firm Carbonite, now six other advertisers withdrew their support following Mr Limbaugh's first comments.

Mattress companies Sleep Train Mattress and Sleep Number, as well as Quicken Loans all immediately announced that they suspended their advertisements on the program.

On Sunday, ProFlowers announced via Facebook that the host 'went beyond political discourse to a personal attack and do not reflect our values as a company'.

Earlier in the week, eHarmony said that they would be 're-evaluating their ad buys with the network but did not formally say that they were pulling their ads from his program.

Ms Fluke is a third year law student at Georgetown University- a well-regarded Jesuit school- and the ex-president of the university's group called Students for Reproductive Justice.

She spoke on Capitol Hill about a friend who had to take birth control to treat a disorder that caused ovarian cysts.

The friend subsequently lost her ovary. She also spoke of classmates who can’t afford contraception, which was what really riled Mr Limbaugh.

Ms Fluke claimed a female student spends $3,000 on protected sex during a three-year course at university, reported ABC News.

‘Three thousand dollars for birth control in three years? That’s $1,000 a year of sex - and, she wants us to pay for it,’ Mr Limbaugh said.

'She's having so much sex she can't afford her own birth control pills and she agrees that Obama should provide them, or the Pope.’


more @ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2110091/Rush-Limbaugh-condemned-Newt-Gingrich-calling-law-student-slut.html