Rush Limbaugh offered rare praise for Marco Rubio today on his show, after watching Rubio’s speech following the Iowa caucuses last night.

“He was the first to get out there. He hustled to get out there. As such, it made him look like the winner,” Limbaugh said on his show this afternoon. “He had energy. I thought it was a great speech that Rubio gave last night. It was energetic.”

Limbaugh told listeners that he felt like a “lone wolf” for appreciating Rubio, because so many people were angry at him for pursuing amnesty in the Senate with the Gang of Eight.

“I don’t see Marco Rubio as anything other than a legitimate, full-throated conservative,” Limbaugh continued, “Nobody’s pure, and nobody is ever free of making mistakes.”

“Marco Rubio I really like. I like Ted Cruz,” Limbaugh said. “There are any number of people in this campaign, two or three people, if they win, I’d be happy.”

Limbaugh said that the establishment rallying around Rubio would likely hurt him with some voters.

“[T]he establishment does have their candidate, and it looks like it is going to be Rubio. And, as such, Rubio is gonna end up becoming an enemy of several Republican — or many perhaps potential Republican— voters,” he said.