Steele Caves,
Apologizes to Limbaugh

Days after calling conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh "ugly and incendiary," Republican National Committee chair Michael Steele has taken it all back , saying his words were taken out of context and he has nothing but respect for Limbaugh.

Steele took to comedian D.L. Hughley's CNN show on Saturday to talk about Limbaugh, likening him to an entertainer and calling his show "ugly."

Limbaugh quickly fired back with some thoughts of his own: "Why are you running the Republican Party? Why do you claim you lead the Republican Party when you seem obsessed with seeing to it that President Obama succeeds? I frankly am stunned that the chairman of the Republican National Committee endorses such an agenda."

Steele quickly hopped on the defensive, telling Politico.com he had no intention of going after Limbaugh.

"I have enormous respect for Rush Limbaugh," Steele said. "I was maybe a little bit inarticulate. ... There was no attempt on my part to diminish his voice or his leadership. It was one of those things where I thinking I was saying one thing, and it came out differently. What I was trying to say was a lot of people ... want to make Rush the scapegoat, the bogeyman, and he's not. I'm not going to engage these guys and sit back and provide them the popcorn for a fight between me and Rush Limbaugh. No such thing is going to happen."

Steele's apology comes at a time when media pundits are increasingly referring to Limbaugh as the real head of the Republican Party.