Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the criticism that Rush Limbaugh faced -- and the loss of advertising -- after he insulted Sandra Fluke was "very encouraging" to her.
"I try very hard to stay out of the politics," Clinton told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell in an interview aired today. "As a woman and as someone who can vaguely remember being a young woman and as a mother," she added nonetheless, "I thought the response was very encouraging. The response from the public, the response in particular from women [of different backgrounds], the response from advertisers."
Limbaugh lost advertisers after he called Sandra Fluke, who supports the mandate requiring insurance sompanies and businesses to provide free contraception, a "slut." Limbaugh apologized, but some Democrats tried to have him banned from talk radio.
Clinton said she "encourage[s]" debate and free speech, but "we need to call people out when they go over the line," she said. "Let's keep it on the issues."
Limbaugh says that stories of the financial hit he took over the loss of advertisers are exaggerated; he also says that advertisers are returning to his show.
