The Hill News

Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel criticized Mitt Romney for not standing up to strong criticism conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh directed at a Georgetown Law school student.

Emanuel, now the the mayor of Chicago, said that if Romney "can't stand up to Rush", he won't be capable of standing "up to Russia," according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

"Take a look at the fortitude and the strength and the determination and the vision that the president [displayed bailing out] the auto industry and juxtapose it to Mitt Romney, who doesn’t have the fortitude, the strength or the character in my view to stand up to Rush Limbaugh," Emanuel! said.

Earlier this month Limbaugh underwent strong criticism from Democrats and some Republicans after calling Sandra Fluke, the law student, a "slut" for her congressional testimony on the value of President Obama's birth control rule, which requires insurers for certain religious organizations to provide contraceptive care to employees. 

Emanuel's comments on national topics, such as Limbaugh's comments, are increasingly rare as he spends more time as mayor of Chicago.

"I thought what Rush Limbaugh said was â€" not only wrong. It was absolutely repulsive," Emanuel continued. "That said, if you can’t stand up to Rush, how are you gonna stand up to Russia?"

Romney's response to Limbaugh's comments, which the former Massachusetts governor made earlier this month, were that Limbaugh's comments was not "the language" Romney wold have used.

After a few days of criticism, Limbaugh apologized for the remarks.