Rush Limbaugh calls Russia a 'third-rate, third world nation' and mocks Putin

Right-wing talk show icon Rush Limbaugh laughed off the deflated expectations of the media for the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin. He mocked Russia as a 'third-rate, third world nation' on his radio show Friday.

"There’s some babe on CNN," Limbaugh said, "some analyst, I just heard this literally in the last 30 seconds as the theme was playing. They’re analyzing — the Trump-Putin meeting is going on longer than — why is anybody surprised what’s going on in this meeting?"

"Isn’t it obvious," he said, "Trump and Putin are already plotting the 2020 election, probably doing some things on the 2018 midterms. What else could be going on? What in the world else is there?"

"Russia is a-third-rate, third world nation," he mocked.

"What else is there to talk about but Russia colluding with future elections?" he asked rhetorically. "North Korea? The Russians have nothing to do with that. The Russians have nothing to do with the ChiComs. Syria? Well, maybe Syria, but Trump’s gonna ace ’em out on energy delivery to nations like Poland, Latvia, Slovenia, and so forth."

"Anyway, this business with Russia has been so overblown," he continued. "They’re no different now than we were in the Soviet Union. They still are a Third World economy with a First World military and a KGB agent that runs the country with his oligarch buddies and their giant mega yachts all over the world throwing parties for models. That’s pretty much what Russia is. There’s a little bit of exaggeration in there."

"Here’s the truth," Limbaugh concluded later. "The Russian economy is half the size of France’s economy. India, at present, has a stronger economy than Russia. The second thing is: Putin knows damn well he did not collude to ensure Trump’s victory. Putin knows damn well he had nothing to do with the outcome of our election, and he knows that he needs Trump."

"He knows that he needs a good relationship with the United States as his country sputters from high energy costs, sanctions, low employment," he added. "You’ve been so lied to, we all have, about this."

The highly anticipated meeting between Trump and Putin Friday during the G-20 economic summit resulted in the announcement of a ceasefire in Syria, and other headline news. While Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that Trump raised the issue of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, the Kremlin contradicted his account by saying that Trump accepted Putin's denial of the allegations.