Geraldo Rivera Calls Rush Limbaugh's Secession Warning 'Treason'

Comments by conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh that political division in the U.S. is pushing the country towards a break up have been described as "treason" and "reckless" by Fox News contributor Geraldo Rivera.

After he was asked whether the GOP could ever win an election without taking back Democrat cities, Limbaugh told his listeners on Wednesday that the conflict between liberal and conservative ideologies posed an existential threat to the U.S.

His comments come as 18 states have joined Texas in launching Supreme Court legal action to reject votes in battleground states won by President-elect Joe Biden.

"I see more and more people asking what in the world do we have in common with the people who live in, say, New York?" Limbaugh said. "I actually think we are trending toward secession."

"There cannot be a peaceful coexistence of two completely different theories of life, theories of government, theories of how we manage our affairs," Limbaugh said, adding, "we can't be in this dire a conflict without something giving somewhere along the way." He later clarified that he was not advocating for the break-up of the country.

But after the clip was played on The Story, Fox anchor Martha MacCallum asked Rivero whether he thought the break up of the U.S. was a "possibility."

Rivera responded: "I think talk of secession is treason Martha, I want to be very clear. Rush Limbaugh is a powerhouse broadcaster. He is one in a zillion, they come along once in a generation, but that talk is reckless, it's irresponsible.

"We are one nation indivisible. I had to laugh, Rush goes on to say that people where he has no idea what people in New York are thinking, they are so different they are like a different species," Rivera added.

"Half of New York lives in Florida where Rush Limbaugh lives, it's preposterous. I live in Ohio, a red state. I strongly supported President Trump, but also pro-gun control, pro-immigration reform, I'm pro-choice.

"I think leaders who accentuate the differences and exacerbate the divide are themselves responsible," he added.

The only time states have seceded was in the run up to the Civil War, when southern states backing slavery tried to break away from the union 160 years ago.

Civil War-era sentiments were also invoked in a misspelled and deleted tweet he later apologized for by Mississippi State Rep. Price Wallace (R) who said last month that his state was ready "to succeed [sic] from the union and form our own country."