Hardball

Chris Matthews on Tuesday accused a Republican strategist participating in MSNBC's New Hampshire primary coverage of being a Mitt Romney surrogate.

Even more surprisingly, colleague Rachel Maddow quickly realized the absurdity of the accusation saying, "He's no surrogate" (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):

As NewsBusters has been reporting, Chris Matthews has clearly joined the Anyone But Romney for Republican presidential nominee crowd.

Appearing on MSNBC's Morning Joe Tuesday, the Hardball host enthusiastically endorsed one of the former Massachusetts governor's New Hampshire primary rivals actually saying on live television, "If I were voting here I’d vote for Huntsman because he’s American" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Now that Mitt Romney appears to be the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, the Obama-loving media are out in full force attacking him.

Such was clearly evident on Monday's Morning Joe when Hardball host Chris Matthews compared the former Massachusetts governor to a whore, said he was "dog-trained," and mocked him for wearing "Mom jeans" (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):

An angry Chris Matthews on Thursday denounced Rick Santorum, smearing the Republican as wanting a "theocracy" to "trump" the Constitution. The MSNBC anchor ranted about birth control after playing a clip of Santorum on "The Bill O'Reilly Show." [See video below. MP3 audio here.]

Santorum told O'Reilly on Wednesday that states do have the right to ban contraception, but added, "[States] shouldn't do it. I wouldn't vote for it if they did. But that doesn't mean they don't have a right to do it." Talking to Robert Traynham, a former staffer of Santorum, Matthews interpreted, "Let me tell you what he said. He's said 'My religion should dominate, should trump issues of the Constitution.'"

At this time four years ago the liberal media was just starting its flirtation with Barack Obama in Iowa, while others still carried the torch for Hillary Clinton. On the eve before the Iowa caucus Chris Matthews, on Hardball, hoped that an Obama win in Iowa would send the message to the world that a "despised" America was truly ready to "change." For her part, then Today co-host Meredith Vieira was still caught up in Hillary hype as she touted that, "up close the Senator and former First Lady is natural, confident and warm."

On the January 2, 2008 Nightly News, NBC's Andrea Mitchell did her part to advance the notion of Obama's centrism as she sought out "a lifelong Republican, who twice voted for George Bush, now canvassing for Obama" as "a precinct captain" in Iowa.  (video after the jump)

Twenty-four years ago, Los Angeles Dodgers VP Al Campanis was forced to resign his position for saying on national TV that blacks lack "the necessities" to be baseball managers and executives.  

On today's Hardball, Chris Matthews was so enjoying himself mocking Rick Perry's intelligence, that he decided to use a slightly mangled version of the same line on the Texas governor. Video after the jump.

Appearing on Friday's Hannity on Fox News, during the weekly "Media Mash" segment, NewsBusters publisher and Media Research Center president Brent Bozell detailed ABC's attempt to paint a rosy economic picture to help President Obama and the liberal media's across-the-board effort to slam Newt Gingrich as a "frightening" "political killer." [View video after the jump]

MSNBC's Chris Matthews ran into trouble on Thursday when an Iowa radio host mocked the TV personality: "I just want to make sure we're starting with some honesty. You're clearly working for the re-election of Barack Obama." WHO-AM's Simon Conway appeared on the December 15 Hardball and promptly started sparring with the liberal anchor. [See video below. MP3 audio here.]

After Matthews' bland introduction, Conway struck: "Well, first of all, it's always a pleasure to welcome a Democrat to the Simon Conway Show, Chris." (The interview was simulcast on Conway's program.) A rattled Matthews responded, "This isn't going to go very long here if you're going into this game of assigning" political labels.                           

Twenty four hours after linking Mitt Romney to the Ku Klux Klan, MSNBC's Thomas Roberts apologized for his "appalling" smear. The News Live host on Thursday waited until the show was 50 minutes over and then conceded, "During yesterday's 11am, we reported on a blog item that compared a phrase used by the Romney campaign to one used by the KKK in the 1920s." [Video of the original comments and the apology can be found below. MP3 audio here.]

He continued, "It was irresponsible and incendiary of us to do this and showed an appalling lack of judgment. We apologize to the Romney campaign." On Wednesday's show, Roberts slimed, "Plus, what Mitt Romney has in common with the KKK. Details on a rare Romney campaign blunder ahead."

If you had any question who the folks at MSNBC would prefer President Obama run against next November, what happened on Wednesday's Hardball should make it crystal clear.

About thirty minutes after host Chris Matthews apologized for his network's pathetic Ku Klux Klan smear of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, he disgustingly attacked former House Speaker Newt Gingrich saying, "You don't give WMD to someone known even by his old former allies to be in a crunch, or even whenever things get edgy, to be himself a weapon of mass destruction" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

MSNBC's Chris Matthews is very upset about Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney saying President Obama is pursuing a foreign policy of "appeasement."

On Wednesday's Hardball, the host was so outraged by this that his Republican Strategist guest, Florida's Sally Bradshaw, ended up laughing in his face and mocking him when he talked about "sophisticated voters" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Former Newsweek editor Howard Fineman on Wednesday trashed Newt Gingrich as a mad bomber, smearing, "...Newt's main appeal and his main skill is as a guy who knows exactly where to put the explosive device to blow up the bridge."

Fineman was appearing on Chris Matthews' Hardball. Matthews has previously decried so-called incendiary rhetoric on the right, but the host just chuckled at Fineman's comments. 

According to Chris Matthews on Monday, the Republican presidential candidates are engaging in a "reign of terror" and "don't like democratic government." In a possible (though confusing) allusion to the toppling of Saddam Hussein, the Hardball anchor smeared, "These are guys who tear down statues. They don't put them up."  [See video below. See MP3 audio here.]

Matthews has a history of comparing Republicans to violent extremists in the Middle East. On July 5, 2011, the MSNBC host foamed, "Well, the GOP has become the Wahhabis of American government, willing to risk bringing down the whole country in the service of their anti-tax ideology."

After MSNBC's Chris Matthews bashed Barack Obama a few weeks ago for having "the worst kind of a notion of the presidency," people were wondering if the Hardball host no longer got a thrill up his leg for the Commander-in-Chief.

Let not your heart be troubled for on Monday the man many in the blogosphere refer to as "Tingles" said the current White House resident's "smile's worth a million bucks" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

NewsBusters readers should be quite familiar with Ron Christie, the Republican strategist who loves to tangle with the liberal commentators on MSNBC.

Following his terrific encounter with Chris Matthews last week, NewsBusters spoke by phone with Christie about his experiences on the nation's most left-leaning cable news outlet as well as what it's like to be a black conservative in the year 2011 (video follows with transcript):

During what he billed as an "official exit interview" for retiring Rep. Barney Frank, Hardball host Chris Matthews asked the Massachusetts Democrat if he believes in good and evil and moreover, does he believe that "there's some people like Newt Gingrich that personify one side of this Manichean struggle in our life."

Frank, no fan of Gingrich, seemed taken aback by how strident Matthews feels about the former Republican Speaker of the House (video follows page break; MP3 audio here):

MSNBC's Chris Matthews on Tuesday issued an absolutely disgraceful commentary concerning Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich.

In Hardball's final segment, the host attacked the former House Speaker saying, "Ever since he arrived on the national scene, politics has been nastier, more feral, too often uglier," and concluded, "Gingrich being nominated by a major political party for the American presidency promises a grotesquery to make even the most hard-nosed of us avert our glance in embarrassment and sadness for our republic" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

MSNBC's Chris Matthews on Monday perfectly demonstrated that he is willing to contentiously debate issues with conservative guests without regard for the truth.

In the middle of a Hardball segment about the Democrat proposal to extend the payroll tax holiday, Matthews ignorantly accused the far more knowledgeable Ron Christie of "complicating" the discussion leading his guest to marvelously respond, "Of course, the facts get in the way of a good narrative" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

The next time you get into an argument with a liberal about whether or not the media is biased, show him or her the following video of MSNBC's Chris Matthews admitting on Friday's Hardball that it is (video follows with transcript and commentary):

As NewsBusters previously reported, MSNBC's Chris Matthews on Saturday expressed his harshest criticism of Barack Obama to date saying amongst other things that he's got "the worst kind of a notion of the presidency."

Roughly three months ago, Matthews on the syndicated weekend program bearing his name smelled racism in the declining number of whites supporting the current White House resident (video follows with transcript and commentary):

The day after MSNBC's Chris Matthews tore into Barack Obama for having "the worst kind of a notion of the presidency," New York magazine's Frank Rich blasted the Hardball host for publishing a "man-crush of a biography" about the late John F. Kennedy (emphasis added):

Chris Matthews on Saturday slammed Barack Obama in his worst criticism to date of the man that used to give him a thrill up his leg.

Speaking to the host of MSNBC's Weekends with Alex Witt, Matthews excoriated the President saying, "The day he got inaugurated, he sent us all home and said, 'Thank you, now watch how smart I am.' That's the worst kind of a notion of the presidency" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Conservative talk show host Larry Elder on Tuesday grilled Chris Matthews for his hostile treatment of conservatives and dismissed the Hardball anchor's fawning new book about John F. Kennedy. When Matthews objected to the barrage, Elder slapped down his complaints: "I'm sorry for cutting you off the way you cut your guests off!" [MP3 audio of the entire interview here.]

A wounded Matthews responded, "You want to make a point or you want to ask me questions?" Elder played a rant first highlighted by Newsbusters where Matthews frothed that the GOP wants to "get rid" of cops and cause "cruel pain." Elder wondered, "You consider yourself a journalist?" Matthews managed, "No, I'm not down the middle. I'm slightly to the left." (Slightly?)

Chris Matthews, who has repeatedly denounced the "hateful" Tea Partiers and once compared them to the Muslim Brotherhood, admitted on Thursday that the conservative protesters have "a point." The admission came during an attempt to suggest that both the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street have failings. [MP3 audio here.]

The Hardball host conceded, "I may surprise some people with this, but both of the movements, right as well as left, had a point, a good point to make. Both of them. Government is spending too much money. If you mean it's spending more than people are willing to finance in taxes." Could it be that Matthews is souring on the Occupy crowd, now that there are reports of defecating on cars and rapes?

Now that Newt Gingrich has taken frontrunner status in some Republican presidential candidacy polls, it's the job of the liberal media to lay off Herman Cain and Rick Perry and start focusing their attacks on him.

Doing his part Wednesday was MSNBC's Chris Matthews who in the middle of a twelve minute opening smear job of the former House Speaker on Hardball actually said, "He’s not a human being, he’s a gaseous state" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews isn't one for subtlety. On Tuesday's show he summarized the problems with the 2012 GOP presidential field as this: "They hate....They hate so much they are not in the mood to fall in love with a candidate or even fall in behind someone."

The Hardball host continued to smear: "Their brains racked as they are by hatred, they lack the like mode. They are in no mood looking around for a politician they like. The hating is so much more satisfying." Matthews even used a typical liberal journalist move: Complimenting a deceased Republican as a way of attacking current GOP members. In this case, Richard Nixon.

Bill Maher spent the bulk of his final program of the season Friday disgracefully attacking any Republican he could think of.

Early in the panel segment of HBO's Real Time, the host went into a tirade about the former governor of Utah saying, "Jon Huntsman can suck my c--k" (video follows with transcript and commentary, strong vulgarity warning):

According to Stephen King, conservative "hate" of Barack Obama is similar to the anger that led to the assassination of John Kennedy. Appearing on Friday's Hardball to promote "11/22/63," his new novel, the author compared, "Here is where hate will get you eventually. This is what happens. Finally, it's the barrel of a gun."

Discussing his book, a work of historical fiction about stopping JFK's murder, King asserted, "And also, there's also been this sort of atmosphere of real hate and obstructionism that surrounded both men." He continued, "So, I began to think history repeats itself and at that point I thought to myself, 'You know I really would like to write this book.'" It took liberal anchor Chris Matthews to point out the obvious: Lee Harvey Oswald was no conservative.