Perhaps most Americans never thought they'd see the day when cable news giant CNN became completely irrelevant, obsolete and even extinct.

But President Trump is waging a full-blown war with CNN, and – when it's all said and done – CNN will be wiped off the news map, according to talk-radio king Rush Limbaugh.

Yes, that day is finally here, he said, and it's making a whole bunch of people nervous.

'It is the end of CNN'

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Limbaugh explained exactly what's happening to his listeners during his July 5 show:

So many people have complained to me about the media for all of my life, the entire portion of my life that I've been doing this program. "Something's got to be done. We've got to do something. Why doesn't somebody do something about the media?" And here comes Donald Trump doing something about the media, and people are getting nervous. Not everybody. Some people are obviously very supportive and happy about this. I think it was last week or the week before, I forget which, but I openly stated on this program that we are witnessing the decline and eventual demise of CNN. And that statement was picked up by several in the Drive-By Media, and panels were assembled to discuss my premise. "Do you really think," it was asked on Fox News, "do you really think this could be the end of CNN?" It is the end of CNN. ... For everybody who's wanted something done about the media, this is what it looks like. For everybody's who's complained about "inside-the-Beltway-itis" and how it happens and says we need to drain the swamp or whatever, this is what it looks like. It was never gonna be pretty. It was never going to appear rational or normal. I mean, this is a huge battle taking place that Donald Trump is waging single-handedly. Now, he's got his supporters out there, don't misunderstand. The social-media army is out there supporting, and he's not alone in this. But in terms of electoral politics, he pretty much is alone in this, and he continues to take it to them. And they clearly do not know how to deal with Trump.

What do YOU think? Are we witnessing the death of CNN? Sound off in today's WND poll!

'CNN can't take it. CNN goes bonkers'

Limbaugh said he was "jealous" that he hadn't thought of making the viral parody video that shows Trump body-slamming a person with a CNN logo superimposed on his head. The original video was from a 2007 World Wrestling Entertainment match where Trump punched and beat up WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. While most of Trump's social media fans enjoyed watching the edited video, CNN was livid.

CNN ignited a firestorm of criticism when it hunted down the person who edited the video and threatened to expose him if he ever did it again. CNN said in a statement: "CNN reserves the right to publish his identity should any of that change." CNN's threats caused the Twitter hashtag #CNNBlackmail to trend as social-media users blasted the TV giant as "unethical" and having crossed a line.

"It was clever, it was funny, and it illustrated once again that modern-day journalism and modern-day liberalism have zero sense of humor," Limbaugh said. "The serious outrage that this was met with is highly illustrative of just where modern-day liberalism is and who they really are.

"I mean, CNN literally went bat crazy over this. They were acting like this is a direct assault on all members of the media. This is promoting violence against the media. Meanwhile, the only people being shot out there are Republicans. The only people being shot are Republicans, and they are deranged supporters of liberals like Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, and they are listening to all the rhetoric that the Drive-By Media, including CNN, is using to make them insane, to rev them up. ...

"CNN can't take it. CNN goes bonkers, claiming that this is going to cause violence against journalists. Meanwhile, the only violence taking place is against Republicans, and it is with guns, and it's being perpetrated by deranged followers of left-wing news such as CNN, the New York Times, the Huff and Puffing Post, you name it."

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CNN's 'raw hatred for Trump'

Over the holiday weekend, Limbaugh said he encountered several people who claimed Trump retweeting the CNN parody video was not "presidential" behavior.

However, Limbaugh reminded them that "Trump didn't start this":

I don't think people have a full-fledged correct understanding of the sheer, raw hatred for Trump that they have. And that kind of hatred that they are carrying with them every day is dangerous. It's destructive. It's distorting. It is almost dehumanizing in a way. You can't just hate consistently and as intensely as they do – CNN, New York Times – without having it affect them, not Trump. Trump is merrily heading on down the path, doing what he's doing, draining the swamp, meeting with foreign leaders, doing what he's doing to implement his agenda. And that's driving them even further crazy. But this episode now of CNN deciding they had to put their investigative unit on the creator of this video and find this guy and intimidate this guy and warn this guy that if he ever does it again, they're going to publicize who he is and to force an apology. Who do they think they are? ... They, in their own minds, can destroy anybody they want. They can go out and say anything about anybody as they have been doing about Trump now for a year. They can make it up. They can lie over and over again. They can repeat what they know are falsehoods. They can repeat supposed intelligence that is not intelligence. They can create an entirely phony narrative and follow it for a week and nobody's allowed to criticize that. You turn the criticism on them and they can't handle it. They can't even handle being laughed at, much less being seriously criticized.

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'They've become a national joke'

In the meantime, Americans are expected to laugh at the "vile, vicious personal destruction and lies that come out of the mouths" of leftist comedians, he noted.

We're supposed to realize there's a First Amendment; anybody can say what they want. But turn it around on a news network that fewer and fewer people are watching, and look what happens. I'll tell you folks, this is a teachable moment, and a lot of people are learning. CNN's doing us, actually, a great favor. A lot of people are learning exactly who they are, what they are, and what liberalism is all about simply by virtue of the fact CNN's putting it on display. Nobody has to tell anybody anything. This is one of the great things about liberalism in the age of Trump. ... How can you not laugh at them? They've become a national joke, and they're the last ones in on it. They don't know that most people watching them are laughing at them. They don't know that most people tune in now to see what the next train wreck's gonna be. Donald Trump is taking on the American media as so many millions of Americans have longed for, have hoped for, and have wished for — and to some, it looks uncomfortable. It feels uncomfortable. It makes them a little nervous. "I don't know that it's presidential." This is what it looks like, folks, and don't forget who started it.

What do YOU think? Are we witnessing the death of CNN? Sound off in today's WND poll!

CNN is no match for Fox News, MSNBC

Meanwhile, CNN's viewership numbers are in the toilet and even spilling into the sewer.

On June 27, Trump tweeted: "Fake News CNN is looking at big management changes now that they got caught falsely pushing their phony Russian stories. Ratings way down!"

CNN replied with the following tweet, complete with punctuation errors: "CNN just posted it's most-watched second quarter in history. Those are the facts."

The facts? Well, sort of. But they aren't all the facts.

The reality, which may be embarrassing to CNN, is that its ratings are nothing to brag about – especially compared to Fox News and MSNBC.

For example, the following is a chart from TV Newser showing CNN couldn't even reach 900,000 viewers in a single prime-time slot on June 27. Fox News managed to triple CNN's viewership in several of the prime-time slots:

CNN's lackluster viewership was similar for all other days that week.

For June 26:

And June 28:

From June 26 to July 2, CNN plunged to No. 13 in the list of prime-time show rankings (8-11 p.m.), even falling below HGTV, Nick at Nite, History Channel and ESPN:

What do YOU think? Are we witnessing the death of CNN? Sound off in today's WND poll!

CNN's credibility takes a big hit

As WND has reported, CNN has been busted multiple times for bogus reporting in just the last month.

As WND reported in February, President Trump labeled CNN "fake news" and even precluded his officials from making appearances on the cable giant.

"I don't watch CNN," Trump said. "I don't like watching fake news."

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Before his inauguration as president, Trump got into a now-famous confrontation with CNN's Jim Acosta when the president-elect refused to take a question from the reporter, while blasting CNN as "fake news."

CNN has repeatedly attacked President Trump in its reporting.

On June 17, the network defended communist Cuba and blasted the president for reversing former President Obama's deal with the nation. Trump said he is restricting American travel to the island, cutting back on the flow of U.S. cash to Cuba's military and insisting on key reforms in Havana.

Also, CNN mocked President Trump's "covfefe" Twitter typo while simultaneously having a glaring typo on its own chyron.

WND reported weeks ago that brain-eating CNN host Reza Aslan called President Trump a "piece of sh--."

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