Chris Matthews Links Gay Marriage Opponents to Supporters of Slavery

May 9th, 2012 5:02 PM

Minutes after Barack Obama came out for gay marriage, Wednesday, Chris Matthews appeared on MSNBC to compare opponents of such unions to "wolves" and to link them to supporters of slavery. Warning of political danger to the President, Matthews spewed, "The dens are opening. The gates are opening of wolves coming out for this, the Karl Roves."

After describing liberalism as the force that brought all social change to America, the Hardball anchor warned about the armies that feed off "resentment." Matthews lectured, "That army has been out there during Jim Crow. It was out there during abolition, during suffrage. There's always an army that feeds on change and feeds against it." [See video below. See MP3 audio here.]

According to the host, it has been the "long march towards liberalism in the country" that has brought justice. Matthews complimented MSNBC's left-wing slogan: "It has always been forward-leaning, as we say on this network actually, and it has always moved in that direction."

A transcript of the exchange, which appeared on the May 9 segment, is below:


3:03

CHRIS MATTHEWS: The wolf lairs are opening up. The dens are opening; the gates are opening of wolves coming out for this, the Karl Roves. The people who will use this against the President in states like North Carolina and in Pennsylvania. They will use it from the pulpit. They’ll make it a religious issue. They will use it to go to communities, black and white. Working-class whites. Very evangelical black Americans – they will go to them at the pulpit. They use everything they can to exploit this. This is a very- well, it's a shattering fact now in American life.

MARTIN BASHIR: You're  suggesting that it is going to redound negatively for the President.

MATTHEWS: It will be a major effort for that to happen. I don't know how the American people will react, whether this will be a voting issue or not. I know that this is an earth shaking statement by the president positively for everyone that is gay they have the president on their side for something that really matters which is love. It is a pretty profound statement by our President. I don't want to get past that too quickly.

BASHIR: No.

MATTHEWS: That's the good news for everybody in the country in terms of freedom and the long march towards liberalism in the country, which has always moved forward for rights for all kinds of people. It has always been forward-leaning, as we say on this network actually, and it has always moved in that direction. But there has always been another army out there that feeds on those who resent it. That army has been out there during Jim Crow. It was out there during abolition, during suffrage. There's always an army that feeds on change and feeds against it. The wolves, and they're being released right now and they're probably giggling with delight at how they're going to use this.