Five Baffling and Weird Moments Overlooked on Late-Night MSNBC’s Wednesday DNC Coverage

July 30th, 2016 5:30 PM

Amidst all the overwhelming media coverage gushing over President Barack Obama’s Wednesday night speech at the Democratic National Convention (DNC), there were a few points during MSNBC’s coverage in the early hours of Thursday that couldn’t go by without being chronicled for NewsBusters readers. 

From Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update co-hosts mocking Chris Matthews to the aforementioned pundit suggesting Obama has a smile like Julia Roberts, here are five points from the 1:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. Eastern hour on MSNBC (presented in chronological order). 

1. SNL's Weekend Update co-hosts mercilessly mock Chris Matthews

SNL's Weekend Update co-hosts Michael Che and Colin Jost joined Matthews upon finishing their special edition of their fake news show about the DNC and like they did after their RNC episode, they relentlessly trolled Matthews that all seemed to go right over the Hardball host’s head. 

The ending portion of the segment was perhaps the funniest, as Che told Matthews that “the biggest takeaway of my week here has been being with you” because “I feel like learned journalism through you” and Matthews took it like he was just given a genuine compliment. When Matthews started chanting about Philadelphia to the crowd, Che had to tell him to focus on the camera and not the crowd.

Tell the Truth 2016

2. Matthews curses, then Rob Reiner praises Cuomo, Hall, Matthews for being tough on Trump

Far-left liberal actor Rob Reiner joined Matthews and his panel for a segment that began with Matthews praising Reiner for “a guy that really knows what you're talking about” before cursing on live TV: “You read The Times every day, you keep up with everything. You don't bullshit. I’m sorry, you can’t say that.”

Like a total suck-up, Reiner gushed over Matthews, MSNBC colleague Tamron Hall, and CNN’s Chris Cuomo for being great journalists at “pin[ning] people down” like Donald Trump.

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3. Chris Hayes: Tim Kaine was “like the earnest dad at the neighborhood barbecue”

Similarly to how Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd touted Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine as a “suburban dad,” All In host Chris Hayes praised Kaine as “quite effective” even though he seemed “a little overwhelmed by the moment” but “sort of like the earnest dad at the neighborhood barbecue talking to you.”

4. Matthews: President Obama has a smile like Julia Roberts

There have countless instances over the years in which Matthews has professed his undying love for President Obama and early Thursday morning was no different as he fawned over his acting skills and told Reiner that “he has that Julia Roberts smile of his that he saves and when he does it, you can't resist the guy.”

5. So, about that time a young Chris Hayes Threw a Kegger to raise money for Obama....

Yes, readers, you read that correctly. During a frequent Hardball feature where Matthews asks panelists to tell him something that he didn’t already know, Hayes dropped this bomb about how infatuated he and his Chicago roommates were for Obama in 2004:

HAYES: I was 25 years old at the time and I knew a little bit about President Obama. I met him a bunch of times cause he was a State Senator who was running for Senate and all of my friends — my 20-something, progressive, idealistic friends were obsessed with this guy, we had a kegger in my house for my birthday to raise money that we charged people $10 in cash. We gave the envelope in the campaign.