Rush Limbaugh laid into GOP candidate Mitt Romney on Tuesday after the candidate said he would not say "incendiary comments" about President Barack Obama for the sole purpose of inciting the conservative base.

During a press conference before the Michigan primary contest, Romney said, "It's very easy to excite the [conservative] base with incendiary comments. We've seen throughout the campaign that if you're willing to say really outrageous things that are accusative and attacking President Obama, that you're going to jump up in the polls. I'm not willing to light my hair on fire to try and get support. I am who I am."

Limbaugh seemed surprised by Romney's reaction. "So Romney's not willing to say incendiary things about Obama to incite the base," he repeated. "What does this tell you that Romney thinks of the base? That it takes incendiary comments to turn you on? That all you want is somebody beating up on Obama...or set their hair on fire to get attention..and that's all you care about," Limbaugh said to his listeners.

He later criticized Romney for making this position clear so early in the 2012 election. Speaking of 2008 Republican candidate Sen. John McCain, Limbaugh said, "At least McCain waited till the general campaign to make it clear that anybody criticizing Obama would be fired. Here it's happening in the primary." He then imitated Romney's position on the subject and said, "I'm not going to make any incendiary comments to attract the base. I have extensive experience in the private sector."

Limbaugh also took issue with what he referred to as Obama and the press' willingness to criticize the conservative base. "Obama can say whatever he wants about us and does, and the media can. And we're not talking about incendiary. We're talking about truth," Limbaugh said.

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