Rush Limbaugh told millions of radio listeners on Tuesday that President-elect Donald Trump’s public jabs at Boeing have much more to do with Clinton-era cronyism than budgetary concerns.

Mr. Trump captured national headlines early Tuesday morning for telling Boeing to cancel an order for two new Air Force One 747s — along with a $4 billion price tag. Mr. Limbaugh, sitting behind his golden EIB microphone, said the media would try and portray the president-elect’s tweets as proof that he is a “walking mental midget” when the opposite is true.

“In 2010, two months after Hillary went to Moscow to broker a $3.7 billion trade deal with Russia, ‘Boeing donated $900,000 to the Clinton Foundation,’” the radio host said. “Then in July 2012, just months after the State Department helped it secure major deals in Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, Boeing said it wanted to sponsor a speech by Bill Clinton.”

Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 6, 2016

The conservative commentator added that former President Bill Clinton was paid $250,000 for a Boeing speech and that Mrs. Clinton received $166,735 for her presidential campaign.

“So Hillary Clinton as secretary of state had helped Boeing broker two deals, one in Russia (a $3.7 billion deal) which got them a $900,000 contribution to the Clinton Foundation, and in 2012 Boeing hired Bill to do a speech for a quarter mill — chump change compared to what they’ve been sending Hilary,” Mr. Limbaugh said. “Plus, they sent about $170,000 in campaign donations. Trump knows all this. He’s very much aware of the cronyism that’s been going on.”

“[Trump] doesn’t like the Iranian nuke deal. He doesn’t like any of Obama’s trade deals. He doesn’t like much of our foreign policy, and Boeing is in the thick of it. Boeing is right smack dab in the middle of many things. And so this tweet that Trump has put out there today is not just an idle Trump’s gotta say something, he’s bored kind of thing. There’s obviously something very meaningful behind it.”

Boeing released a statement after Mr. Trump’s tweet saying the company was “under contract for $170 million to help determine the capabilities of these complex military aircraft that serves the unique requirements of the President of the United States. We look forward to working with the US Air Force on subsequent phases of the program allowing us to deliver the best planes for the President at the best value for the American taxpayer.”

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