BREAKING: Conservative icon Rush Limbaugh has died

Limbaugh, who said before Christmas that he thought he would not have made it that long, had been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer lung cancer in January 2020. This was shortly after he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Donald Trump.

"I was stunned," he told listeners about the experience, "and I was in denial for about a week. I'm Rush Limbaugh. I'm Mister Big of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy. I mean, I'm indestructible. I said, 'This can’t be right,' but it was."

This was during his last broadcast of 2020. He said that "Because I have outlived the diagnosis, I've been able to receive and hear and process some of the most wonderful, nice things about me that I might not have ever heard had I not gotten sick," Limbaugh said. "How many people who pass away never hear the eulogies, never hear the thank-yous?"

It was only six days ago that Limbaugh's producer gave an update on Limbaugh's health, saying his staff was "praying for remission."

Limbaugh was candid with listeners about his experience with the terminal illness, saying in May that the treatment was "kicking my ass," and that the effects of it left him "virtually worthless, virtually useless." He said that "the impact on the tumor in these three weeks is not expected to be significant."

In describing the effects of the medication, he said that it had resulted in swelling that made it impossible for him to walk, and gave him "pain from the waist down all the way to the tip of my toes."

In December, Limbaugh announced his Support Our Heroes Campaign where listeners could nominate local law enforcement in light, he said, of a year in which law enforcement officers had been demeaned.

Limbaugh broadcast from Cape Girardeau, MO, to 15.5 million listeners, and was a major figure in conservative media. Mark Steyn filled in for Limbaugh on Tuesday.