Chris Matthews Rips Obama's Teleprompter: 'I Think It's His Menace'

Chris Matthews on Wednesday laid into Barack Obama's teleprompter calling it "his menace."

Near the end of a "Hardball" segment about the President's prime time address to the nation Tuesday, the host said, "If he doesn't get rid of that damn teleprompter...He's just reading words now."

Matthews continued, "It's separating him from us."

And continued, "You go to a meeting with him I'm told, businessmen are invited to meet him at the White House, he hauls out the damn teleprompter, and he reads it to them."

"The teleprompter is a problem for this guy. I think it's his menace" (video follows with partial transcript and commentary):

CHRIS MATTHEWS: You know, sometimes I really support the President in a lot of his views, in fact all of them almost. But I have to tell you, Michael, if he doesn't get rid of that damn teleprompter, it's like an eye test. He's just reading words now. It's separating him from us. Your thoughts. You go to a meeting with him I'm told, businessmen are invited to meet him at the White House, he hauls out the damn teleprompter, and he reads it to them. Well, why even bring people into the room, just have the teleprompter. I sense it's getting between him and us and I thought that speech last night was a terrible, well a great example rather, of him using the teleprompter instead of his heart and his mind. He was reading words to us that any president could have written, had written for him and delivered. [...]

The teleprompter is a problem for this guy. I think it's his menace.

Imagine that.

Obama's been dragging TOTUS to speeches - regardless of how short - for over nineteen months, and Matthews is just starting to notice?

Makes you wonder if the "Hardball" host would be expressing such concerns about TOTUS if POTUS's poll numbers weren't plummeting.