Matthews Howls: Rush Limbaugh is 'Phone Sex' for Salesmen

Chris Matthews, on Tuesday's "Hardball," went all blue when discussing Rush Limbaugh's interview with his NBC News colleague Jamie Gangel. After showing a clip of Limbaugh playing word association, in which the talk show host bashed Matthews' old boss Jimmy Carter as "An utter disgrace and embarrassment," the "Hardball" host fired back with this odd rejoinder: "You say Rush Limbaugh, I say phone sex for the traveling salesman. Think about it."

Matthews probably left most viewers scratching their heads with that connection but he was actually just adding a scatological twist to an earlier statement he made from his January 28 show about Limbaugh's listeners: "I think Rush Limbaugh plays brilliantly to his constituency - traveling salesmen. I know how he does it. He's a support group. Nobody else roots for him, he does. Everything he says is brilliantly tuned to that constituency against-, the trouble is I have with people like that is they, they're never as tough on the rich people as they are on poor people. And I think it's easy to go after the poor people. People that have nothing, who get a tax break or a tax credit. And they're struggling, and they get to work."

Matthews made the following "phone sex" quip during the "Hardball Sideshow," segment of his October 13 show:

CHRIS MATTHEWS: Next up, mouthing off. Here's Rush Limbaugh sitting down for a game of word association with our colleague Jamie Gangel of NBC.

(Begin clip)

JAMIE GANGEL: I say President Obama, you say?

LIMBAUGH: Disaster.

GANGEL: Michelle Obama?

LIMBAUGH: Garden.

GANGEL: Garden?

LIMBAUGH: Yeah, plants a garden out there.

GANGEL: Jimmy Carter.

LIMBAUGH: An utter disgrace and embarrassment. Sorry for the four words, but I needed them all.

GANGEL: Sarah Palin.

LIMBAUGH: Misunderstood and underestimated....I admire her. People have tried to destroy her. She's got more of a backbone than any man in the Democrat Party.

(End clip)

MATTHEWS: You say Rush Limbaugh, I say phone sex for the traveling salesman. Think about it.

Special thanks goes out to Newsbusters' own Mark Finkelstein for snagging the video.