- [President Trump] He was a unique guy.

And he was, he became a friend of mine.

You know, I didn't no Rush at all.

I had essentially never met Rush.

And then when we came down the escalator,

he liked my rather controversial speech.

I made that speech that was a little bit

on the controversial side and he loved it.

And he was, without everhaving met him or talked to him

or had lunch with him and asked him,

he was with me right from the beginning.

(swooshing)

- And for more on Limbaugh's life, legacy,

and lasting influence, wewant to bring in Ken Blackwell

with the Family Research Council.

Ken, it's good to haveyou with us this evening.

I know you knew him personally.

What was your reaction this afternoon

when you heard the news?

- Quite naturally, I wasdisappointed and saddened.

Rush Limbaugh was anirrepressible human spirit.

He was engaging.

He was informative.

And he was courageous.

But most of all, Ithink he was optimistic.

He, like Lincoln, understoodthat the human condition

isn't a spectator sport,and America is not perfect

but it is perfectible by good people

doing good things andgreat things together.

And he was, like I said,irrepressible with that optimism.

And he was sharp witted andhe used it constructively.

- Ken, what do you think willbe Rush's lasting contribution

to conservatism in American politics?

- You know, there's a passage in Luke

where we're told to beunafraid and be unafraid.

Rush Limbaugh was fearless.

And so he was always advancing

on principle the conservative message.

And I think that that willbe his lasting gift to us.

And again, he will be missed,

but he will not be forgotten.

Rush Limbaugh was a true American patriot,

and icon doesn't really grasp his impact.

- To your point, many credithim with saving talk radio.

I know that you actually,that's how you knew him

was through the radio industry.

- Yeah, I was a founding memberof Blue Chip Broadcasting.

We became the secondlargest minority owned

broadcast company in the countryuntil we sold to Radio One.

But Rush Limbaugh I knew through a network

of personalities and friends.

Walter Williams, who wasa good friend of Rush's

and actually set in for him.

And then James Golden,

who was one of Rush's longtime producers.

A network of friends then.

And while I didn't talkto Rush every week,

didn't talk to him sometimes over a year.

I, in fact, felt very close to him

because we had a network of friends.

But because he was such anengaging personality on radio,

he really did not likelow information voters,

and so he did everything hecould do to light candles.

He didn't spend a lot oftime cursing the darkness.

He lit candles.

And I think that's what madehim such a special person.

- Ken, if you can in a sentence or two,

at last year's State of the Union,

former President Trump awarded Limbaugh

with a Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Can you talk about his battlesfrom addiction and cancer

and how they culminated in that moment?

- Well, again, he understood

that once he surrendered to Christ,

that there was nothingthat was unbearable,

nothing that he couldn't conquer,

or if in fact he had to push through it,

he could push through it inconfidence that he was doing it

and that he ultimately wouldspend his time with Christ.

And I think that gave him strength.

- That's gonna have to be the last word.

Ken Blackwell withFamily Research Council,

thank you so much for your reflections.

- So good to have you.- Good to be with you.