Rush Limbaugh Calls George Steinbrenner 'Cracker' in Tribute

(CANVAS STAFF REPORTS) - As the nation mourned the death of New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh offered his own sort of eulogy.

"That cracker made a lot of African Americans millionaires," Limbaugh said on his morning show Tuesday. "And at the same time he fired a bunch of white guys."

In the transcript of the show , Limbaugh goes on to describe Steinbrenner as the "classic capitalist" where "everybody around him became wealthy."

Limbaugh also says "What a man he was. What a feature and a character he was in Major League Baseball."

The website Media Matters posted an audio clip of his comments.

Steinbrenner had died earlier on Tuesday at the age of 80 from a heart attack.

According to CNN , Premiere Radio Networks, which broadcasts the show, has not commented.

Limbaugh's comments drew a rebuke from civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton, who said in a statement that the comments were "repugnant and offensive whether they were intended to be facetious or tongue and cheek."

"For the last 20 years I have known George Steinbrenner, and we have quarreled over diversity and community programs, but I always found him fair, direct, and genuinely prone to do what he felt was right," Sharpton said. He said that Limbaugh owed Steinbrenner's family an apology for timing his rhetoric on the same day as Steinbrenner's death.

Limbaugh has had other well-known clashes with sports and race. While resigning from ESPN in 2003 he said on air that "the media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well."

The conversation was concerning Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb.

"I think there's a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of his team that he really didn't deserve," Limbaugh said.

The comments would later slap him in the face when he was dropped from a consortium wanting to buy the St. Louis Rams.

CNN said Limbaugh has also complained about NFL players' celebratory dances following touchdowns, calling them "a cultural problem."