On Wednesday’s Hardball, host Chris Matthews took his latest cheap shot at Republican Senator Ted Cruz (Tex.), ruling that “[h]is unpleasantness...is immeasurable” after hearing a clip of Cruz criticizing Democrats for whining about Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) being silenced on the Senate floor.
In contrast, Matthews showcased the utmost affection for Democratic Senator Tim Kaine (Va.) and inquired about his well-being since Kaine and Hillary Clinton lost the presidential election.
Here’s the clip of Cruz on the Fox News Channel blasting Democrats that triggered Matthews:
Charges that she was making against Jeff Sessions are demonstrably false. They're slanderous. They're ugly and it's one of the crutches — you know, when the left doesn't have any other arguments, they go and just accuse everyone of being a racist.
Matthews reappeared on-screen with a smirk as he turned to his Hardball roundtable, stating: “His unpleasantness, that guy, Ted Cruz, is immeasurable.”
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As I wrote back on December 30, Matthews has had a penchant for attacking Cruz. On February 10, 2016, Matthews smeared Cruz as possessing “a troll-like quality” and “operat[ing] below the level of human life.”
A few months later in April 2016, Matthews agreed with John Boehner’s assertion that Cruz is akin to “Lucifer, the devil, Satan, Beelzebub, the very personage of evil, the leader of the underlife, the chief resident of hell.”
Moving over to Kaine, Matthews illustrated the opposite set of emotions. Kaine appeared on the program to comment on the nomination of Jeff Session to become Attorney General, but Matthews wanted to know how Kaine was doing:
How's it going for you and Secretary Clinton these days? I mean, we think about you. I do once in a while. I wonder cause I think you did a good job running and, you know, the Zeitgeist wasn't quite right. I think it had more to do with the Zeitgeist than anything else. The mood of the country was against than ins than for the out guy, at least in those states that matter. What’s your whole feeling about that election just now?
Matthews wasn’t done as he offered Kaine some advice. Claiming to have heard this from a Rabbi, Matthews explained he always tells this to “people who are going through a hard time” which is “He who gave me burdens also gave me shoulders.”
“We can handle what's thrown at us. Thank you so much. You're lucky to be where you are and we are, too. Thank you, Tim Kaine from the Commonwealth of Virginia,” Matthews concluded.
Here’s the relevant portions of the transcript from MSNBC’s Hardball on February 8:
MSNBC’s Hardball
February 8, 2017
7:19 p.m. Eastern
CHRIS MATTHEWS [TO KAINE]: How's it going for you and Secretary Clinton these days? I mean, we think about you. I do once in a while. I wonder cause I think you did a good job running and, you know, the Zeitgeist wasn't quite right. I think it had more to do with the Zeitgeist than anything else. The mood of the country was against than ins than for the out guy, at least in those states that matter. What’s your whole feeling about that election just now?
(....)
MATTHEWS: Well, as a fellow communican, I’ll tell you something from outside our normal conversation at church and this is from a rabbi. A great — I’ve always — I give this to people who are going through a hard time. He who gave me burdens also gave me shoulders. I love that.
DEMOCRATIC SENATOR TIM KAINE (Va.): Amen. Yeah, that's a great — that is a great —
MATTHEWS: We can handle what's thrown at us. Thank you so much.
KAINE: And it's great to have good work to come back to. Thanks, Chris.
MATTHEW: You're lucky to be where you are and we are, too. Thank you, Tim Kaine from the Commonwealth of Virginia.
(....)
REPUBLICAN SENATOR TED CRUZ (Tex.) [on FNC’s America’s Newsroom, 02/08/17]: Charges that she was making against Jeff Sessions are demonstrably false. They're slanderous. They're ugly and it's one of the crutches — you know, when the left doesn't have any other arguments, they go and just accuse everyone of being a racist.
MATTHEWS: His unpleasantness, that guy, Ted Cruz, is immeasurable.
