Matthews Apologizes for MSNBC's KKK Smear of Romney: 'Appalling Lack of Judgment'
MSNBC's Chris Matthews on Wednesday apologized for his network's "appalling lack of judgment" in comparing a Mitt Romney campaign slogan to the Ku Klux Klan. The Hardball host conceded, "It was irresponsible and incendiary of us to do this, and it showed an appalling lack of judgment. We apologize, we really do, to the Romney campaign." [See video below. MP3 audio here.]
In the 11am hour of MSNBC, anchor Thomas Roberts smeared, "...So you might not hear Mitt Romney say 'keep America American' anymore. That's because it was a central theme of the KKK in the 1920s. It was a rallying cry for the group's campaign of violence and intimidation against blacks, gays and Jews. The progressive blog America blog was the first to catch onto that."
A MSNBC graphic indicted, "Romney's KKK Slogan?"
It's rather lame for MSNBC to have Chris Matthews apologize for Thomas Roberts' attack. Will he apologize, live, on Thursday?
[Thanks to the MRC's Matt Hadro for the video.]
A transcript of Matthews' apology and the original comment can be found below:
12/14/11
5:33
CHRIS MATTHEWS: We're back. During the 11am hour on MSNBC today we reported on a blog item that compared a phrase used by the Romney campaign to one used by the KKK way back in the 1920s. It was irresponsible and incendiary of us to do this, and it showed an appalling lack of judgment. We apologize, we really do, to the Romney campaign.
MSNBC
12/14/1111:26
MSNBC GRAPHIC: Romney's KKK Slogan?
THOMAS ROBERTS: So you might not hear Mitt Romney say "keep America American" anymore. That's because it was a central theme of the KKK in the 1920s. It was a rallying cry for the group's campaign of violence and intimidation against blacks, gays and Jews. The progressive blog America blog was the first to catch onto that.
- Scott Whitlock's blog
- Login to post comments
Comments
Okay, now apologize for
Submitted by HelloDare on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 6:59pm.
Okay, now apologize for Schultz editing video and claiming Perry is a racists.
That's What I Was Thinking
Submitted by tcm14 on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 7:11pm.
They have so much to apologize for, it's funny that they would pick this one thing. After years of smearing the Tea Party as lynching racists, apparently actually using the term "KKK" is beyond the pale, but they practically scream "KKK" with everything they report. Funny actually using the term made them feel guilty.
I can just see Matthews, "We sincerely apologize, and coming up after the break, did Tea Partiers threaten to lynch every non-white in the nation? More after this"
I think that Roberts didn't get the memo.
Submitted by Newsbubba on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 7:16pm.
PMSNBC wants Mitt to win the primary. After that they can show pictures of him wearing sheets and horns!
.
Submitted by DumbCanuck on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 8:10pm.
Comment removed.
"There... Are... Four... Lights!"
Kind of makes you wonder what
Submitted by gopsteve on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 7:09pm.
Kind of makes you wonder what it takes to make MSNBC randomly apologize when they make so many other outrageous statements about Republicans...
There will be severe consequences for Tommy Bobby,
Submitted by SickofLibs on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 7:13pm.
perhaps even a Shustering.
I predict an indefinite 3-day suspension, loss of charge privileges in the cafeteria and being forced to change the cedar shavings in Martin Bashir's box for one week.
"...forced to change the
Submitted by stratman on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 9:41pm.
You know you've made the big time when your keepers use cedar shavings instead of the pedestrian New York Times.
I had a Guinea Pig once....used Cedar Shavings
Submitted by Blonde on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 9:49pm.
And I daresay, my little piggie was 20x smarter than Bashir.
I laughed too, strat, when I read the cedar shavings remark. I love NB'ers!
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
The Basher has a gerbil that
Submitted by killa37 on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 9:57pm.
The Basher has a gerbil that is 20x smarter than he is...........
Hi Chrissy!!
Submitted by Joe W. on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 7:14pm.
Ever hear the expression that you "can't unring a bell"?? Well, it's true, pal. Your apology is a hollow as your head, pal.
Gee, Prissy, ...
Submitted by Newsbubba on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 7:14pm.
... I hope the same 450 viewers who were watching PMSNBC at 11 AM, were watching the apology.
Did I see the overnight ratings today that showed you having fewer viewers than Special Ed, and Da Rev? I think that I would resign in embarrassment if that was the best I could do at my job.
...
Submitted by Eugenia on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 7:22pm.
Why didn't the Roberts guy apologize? Please.
Great point, Eugenia
Submitted by Scott Whitlock on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 7:30pm.
We'll see if he apologizes tomorrow. It's weird to force Matthews to do it.
— Scott Whitlock is the senior news analyst for the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
Well, Matthews does come across as ---
Submitted by matthewdean on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 7:59pm.
sincere.
Burp.
:o)
MD
The hot air factories that
Submitted by lesterwink23 on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 8:03pm.
The hot air factories that occupy time slots on that sorry excuse of a network have said MUCH worse about conservatives/GOPers in the past without the slightest hint of remorse or regret. While at least making an attempt to apologize is a nice gesture, I would like to hear more sincere apologies and/or retractions concerning the truly vicious smears they've hurled in the past.
Maybe...
Submitted by Upland_Patriot on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 8:11pm.
The openly gay Roberts is mad that Mitt is straight. I think this may be a hate crime.
The Dhimmicrats are mad
Submitted by selmore on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 8:16pm.
The Dhimmicrats are mad because they own all KKK trademarks phrases and robe design.
I've got a new slogan for any GOP candidate . . .
Submitted by Galvanic on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 8:18pm.
"Pay your taxes, Reverend Al!"
That ought to shut MSNBC up on the subject of slogans.
Now the Big Question
Submitted by Bourbeau on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 8:23pm.
There is no excuse for anyone in media using a KKK reference for anything, regardless how old it might be; for anyone in cable media with real time reporting, it should be a HUGE STOP SIGN. Has MSNBC suspeneded the program manager as well as Thomas Roberts? If not, they should.
MSNBC was right - abject racism abounded in 2008 vote
Submitted by clayusmcret on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 8:26pm.
But wait! MSNBC may have something there. Racism abounded in the 08 election. When 92% of an ethnicity voted for a person of their own race, no question - that was absolutely racist. Those d@mned whit...... wait. It wasn't the whites.
Only Roberts?
Submitted by Franksam on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 9:10pm.
Help me out here. Does Roberts put the graphics across the screen? It seems more complicated to me. He's just the messenger unless he's the boss at MSNBC now. I hope that Rev. Al is not implicated in this. he does have a history of making things up.
He's not 'sorry' at all.
Submitted by Slyrr on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 9:36pm.
He's not 'sorry' at all.
Like all of Obama's slaves, he and the rest of his foul 'network' are under direct orders from Obama, through his surrogates to say this kind of stuff. It doesn't matter how many phoney 'apologies' they make. Their purpose is to put the accusations out there, so their crazed followers and fanatics will glom onto it and perpetuate it forever.
Obama doesn't need to directly do this stuff to his enemies, when Chrissy-boy et. al. are perfectly willing to do it for him, then pretend to be 'sorry' about it later.
Was it not Obama though, who commanded his thug voters to 'argue and get in everybody's face'? Was it not he who commanded his servants to 'bring guns to a knife fight'? Did he not go on a hispanic radio show and order Mexicans to run out and 'punish his enemies'? Did he not threaten bank owners with 'torches and pitchforks' if they didn't do what he said? Is he not ordering Democrat voters to threaten and intimidate Republicans via email? Does he not have a website called 'Attack' watch?
So long as this foul man and his greedy wife remain in the top office, they'll continue to have willing slaves in the media to tell all kinds of outrageous lies about their 'enemies'. We know who the REAL 'home grown terrorist' is. The guy who dandled at the knees of an unrepentant terrorist and lauched his power grab from his house.
He's sorry they got caught in their own trap.
Submitted by drsamherman on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 9:39pm.
Like most liberals, Chrissie lives in a morally ambiguous fantasy life where no one is responsible for their own actions because of some feigned victimization. He is never responsible for the lies and slander that come out of his mouth (at least in his own mind) because he is somehow a victim of something, somewhere and sometime. Honestly, liberals are the most interesting paranoiacs out there.
right
Submitted by michiganruth on Thu, 12/15/2011 - 12:10am.
I think you're absolutely right about this. once something gets out there, the sheeple take it as an article of faith. hey, they're still blaming Sarah Palin for the fact that Gabby Giffords was shot!
one correction tho:
almost everything you said Obama said is right, and odious. but can we give him a break on the "they bring a knife, we bring a gun" thing? that was a quote from the movie "The Untouchables," about Chicago gangsters. we know Obama loves gangster movies ("Godfather" being his favorite movie, possibly the only thing I agree with him on) and he is a Chicago pol. so let's cut him some slack on the movie quotes.
there are sooooo many other things to dislike about his presidency, we really don't need it.
Chris's three little words
Submitted by CO2Maker on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 10:36pm.
Chris the Wide Mouth Frog said, "We apologize, we really do."
"We really do"? Really? Did he think he needed to add that extra bit of sincerity, like his network was the home of, say, Ed Schultz and no one would believe him?
Maybe if Chrissy-boy hadn't
Submitted by Slyrr on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 10:46pm.
Maybe if Chrissy-boy hadn't been smirking and sneering while he said it, he could have fooled someone. Heads up Chrissy:
1) Your fanatical voting base wasn't fooled by your so-called 'apology'. They know you're lying.
2) Conservatives, Republicans and Tea Party members alike weren't fooled either. They know you're lying.
The good Lord said to forgive others as often as they traspass against you. That doesn't mean we have to blindly let ourselves get taken in by someone that we know is a lying scumbag. I can forgive Chrissy-boy for his traspasses. But I don't forget who he is - or who he works for.
When a liberal or a Democrat puts their arms around you, they're only looking for a good place to stick a knife.
Hey! They may be on to something
Submitted by KornKing on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 10:42pm.
If MoreSmarterNBC is going to go into apologizing for an appalling lack of judgement, they could set aside an hour and call it "The Daily Show"
Apology not accepted.
Submitted by CT on Thu, 12/15/2011 - 12:32am.
Apology not accepted.
The Chris Matthews we've all grown to mock...
Submitted by stage9 on Thu, 12/15/2011 - 1:05am.
""It was irresponsible and incendiary of us to do this, and it showed an appalling lack of judgment."
Keep up the great work Chris, you make Republican electability so much easier!
"If God is dead, somebody is going to have to take his place. It will be megalomania or erotomania, the drive for power or the drive for pleasure, the clenched fist or the phallus, Hitler or Hugh Hefner." — Malcolm Muggeridge
Tommy Bobby didn't do anything..
Submitted by greggy on Thu, 12/15/2011 - 2:35am.
today, that MESSNBC doesn't do a bit more subtly every single day. Incendiary rhetoric, an appalling lack of judgment, and slanders of racism literally define the network..
You know, I think Chris
Submitted by FAR52 on Thu, 12/15/2011 - 12:08pm.
You know, I think Chris Matthews would be a blast to have a beer with. It was good of him to fall on the sword in this case. Not sure if Roberts is responsible, he could just be the guy that reads whatever is given to him. He may have no editorial control at all.
On another topic, I was looking for that Chuck Todd "giving the bird on Morning Joe" thread, and couldn't find it. Did it get deleted or something?