Doubling down on his gripe from last night that the Republican convention might not award Donald Trump the nomination if he rolls into Cleveland with a plurality, but less than a majority, of the delegates, MSNBC's Chris Matthews insisted that such a move would be akin to the "democracy" that takes place in Iran, where the "mullahs" – although Chris erroneously pronounced the word as moolahs – have the final say "and the voters don't really matter."
As you can see in the video below, this was too insane for Chuck Todd, who sported a bemused look on his face. The Meet the Press moderator, however, failed to verbally berated Matthews for comparing the Republican Party's anti-Trump contingent to theocrats in the Islamic Republic of Iran:
MSNBC
Hardball
March 2, 2016; 7:11 p.m. Easternonscreen graphic: FL, OH, IL, MO, NC Vote 3/15
CHRIS MATTHEWS, host: The American people have gotten used to picking presidential nominees in the primaries. They're used to picking the one with the most votes. That's the guy or woman who wins, the one with the most votes.
Come this summer, they all the sudden, the people who went out and voted in the snows of New Hampshire and out in Iowa when it was just as cold all went out and voted and picked, perhaps, Donald Trump as the leading candidate.
Then they're told, no, that's not how it works. It's sort of like in Iran where the mullahs get to make decisions in the end and the voters don't really matter.
It seems to me awful hard for people to buy, that democracy isn't democracy, it's the second or third guy really wins because somehow there was a coalition that went together and they ganged up on Trump and said, "Oh, we're going to pick Rubio," or "We're going to pick Cruz," but not the guy who had the most votes.
I don't think that's going to sell, and I think Trump will walk right out the door, and you'll have a three-way race.
For all his concern about democracy, of course, Matthews has been silent about Hillary Clinton's distorted lead in the Democratic primary delegate count thanks to unelected "superdelegates" who have aligned behind Clinton and who bear no relation to the preferences of voters in the state caucuses and primaries.
What's more, Matthews seems to be confusing having the largest plurality of delegates with having the "most" delegates. If Trump enters Cleveland without a simple majority, neither he nor any one particular candidate has the "most" delegates.
Yes, Trump may have a case to make on the floor that he's the best suited for nomination, and he's certainly entitled to fight to pry away delegates from other candidates to put him over the top, but the process itself is not in any way undemocratic but, as Tom DeLay reminded Matthews last night, perfectly in accord with the GOP's nominating convention rules.
