Obama Promoter Extraordinaire Matthews Slams Promotional Political Ads

April 4th, 2014 5:17 PM

Chris Matthews made a guest appearance Thursday on MSNBC’s PoliticsNation and showcased a hilarious lack of self-awareness regarding his network, especially his own show. The Hardball host sneered at the idea that a political campaign’s TV ads amount to free speech, insisting that they are no different than Coca-Cola commercials. [Video below. MP3 audio here.]

Matthews snarled:

 

You run most of these TV ads for your politicians, left or right, they are promotional. They're not arguments, they’re just repeating the person's name over and over again saying how much they like people, how they're the real thing among a bunch of phonies. They're basically slogans. It's money. It's money talking. It's commerce; to call it speech is ridiculous.
 

This is coming from a man who works for MSNBC, the king of left-wing promotional networks. Matthews and his colleagues have sung President Obama’s praises over and over again for the past six years. They have also beaten the Democrats’ “war on women” talking point to the point where it’s now a dead and bloodied horse. Does all of that not qualify as advertising on behalf of the president and the Democratic Party?

Matthews continued his rant:

You're not paying for somebody to help you write the Gettysburg Address or the king's speech. You're basically saying, I'm going to get your name out there and I'm going to spend a ton of money smearing the other person and getting your name out front.
 

That lecture about “smearing” another person is just rich coming from Matthews. He’s the guy who has compared both Ted Cruz and Dick Cheney to cinematic child-killer Freddy Krueger, and who once called Newt Gingrich a “menacing force” who “looks like the devil.”

Later in the segment, host Al Sharpton played a montage of Republicans expressing gratitude for the Koch brothers. Afterwards, Matthews unloaded:

I mean, that kissing booth you just put together there is so embarrassing. I mean, it's one thing to take the guy's money. But do you have to kiss him? Do you have to bow down before him? I mean, it's embarrassing in a democracy.
 

Again, Matthews kisses and bows down to Obama (figuratively) on a regular basis. We have documented his many Obamagasms here at NewsBusters. Is Matthews embarrassed to be swooning so intensely over the president in a democracy?

Below is a transcript of the segment:


CHRIS MATTHEWS: My belief is you could have a million Coke commercials – Coca-Cola commercials over and over again and say, ‘Things go better with Coke. It's the real thing.’ That's not free speech. That's advertising. You run most of these TV ads for your politicians, left or right, they are promotional. They're not arguments, they’re just repeating the person's name over and over again saying how much they like people, how they're the real thing among a bunch of phonies. They're basically slogans. It's money. It's money talking. It's commerce; to call it speech is ridiculous. You're not paying for somebody to help you write the Gettysburg Address or the king's speech. You're basically saying, I'm going to get your name out there and I'm going to spend a ton of money smearing the other person and getting your name out front.

***

AL SHARPTON: Check out the Republicans talking about the Koch Brothers and Sheldon Adelson. Watch this.

[begin tape]

JOHN KASICH: Hey, listen, Sheldon, thanks for inviting me.

TED CRUZ: The Koch Brothers, because the two of them have stood up and expressed their views, are subject to vilification and personal attack.

NEWT GINGRICH: It would be impossible for me to be here and thank everybody without mentioning Sheldon and Miriam Adelson.

MICHELE BACHMANN: I just thank God that there’s a billionaire or two on our side.

KASICH: Sheldon and I owned a restaurant together.

DAVID VITTER: God bless the Koch brothers. They’re fighting for our freedom.

[end tape]

SHARPTON: ‘God bless the Koch brothers.’ So these guys are loving them as they give all this money.



MATTHEWS: Isn't it great when you've had relations with professional sex workers in both Washington and New Orleans that you can give blessings? I thought you had to be at least a minister like yourself, Reverend. I didn't think a guy like Bob Vitter [sic] could start issuing blessings. I mean, that kissing booth you just put together there is so embarrassing. I mean, it's one thing to take the guy's money. But do you have to kiss him? Do you have to bow down before him? I mean, it's embarrassing in a democracy.