Michael J. Fox: Mockery from Rush Limbaugh Was a "Great Favor"
Michael J. Fox, Adventures of an Incurable Optimist
How optimistic is Michael J. Fox? So optimistic he found a silver lining in Rush Limbaugh accusing him of faking his Parkinson's symptoms.
Fox, whose ABC special Adventures of an Incurable Optimist features Lance Armstrong, Bonnie Hunt, Bill Murray, Tracy Pollan and others talking about hope, said on The View that Limbaugh's 2006 comments proved to be a boon to stem cell research.
"He did us a great favor because he put a lot of attention on the conversation," Fox said Thursday. "We could hijack the last two weeks of the political season."
Fox said he turned the issue to stem cell research whenever people asked for his response to the conservative talk radio host's attack: "My response is, he's Rush Limbaugh — and now let's have a conversation."
Limbaugh accused the former Family Ties and Spin City star — now winning praise for his role as a curmudgeonly paraplegic on Rescue Me — of "exaggerating the symptoms of the disease" in campaign spots for Democrats. The candidates supported embryonic stem cell research that many consider essential to the fight against Parkinson's.
Adventures of an Incurable Optimist airs Thursday at 10 pm.
