While the panelists on Thursday’s Hardball were pondering the icy relationship between President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, frequent guest and Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus suggested that it’s because Trump is.....sexist!
“There also might be a little gender thing. Just saying,” she slyly snuck in near the end of a segment, causing Matthews to add in agreement that “[t]here is a pattern” of behavior with Trump being offensive towards women.
The build-up to that punch line began with a tease Matthews offered up earlier, citing it as an example of “Obama envy” on Trump’s part.
He continued, expressing disgust at Trump’s seemingly normal human behavior of waving hands, pointing, etc. while speaking to Merkel:
They don’t actually look at each other. They’re like those cardboard stand-ups almost with the way they talk. Look at this? What’s this? The finger-pointing, pointing up and down. What is he up to here? This is cold stuff. I like Merkel. Anyway, the relationship she once shared with President Obama. We’re going to talk about that. That was a good relationship. Look at them together there. The Roundtable is coming in to weigh in on that strange situation. Straight ahead.
The Merkel-Trump meeting acted as the final topic for the Roundtable nine minutes later, with Matthews passing along reporting from The New York Times “that President Trump was more annoyed by the prospect of being scolded by Angela Merkel than the upcoming meeting with Putin.”
“It is no secret that Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany, had a closer working relationship, as Ruth said with President Barack Obama, seen here at the G-20. Look at them. They're cuddling. Anyway, well, that was then. This picture today of President Trump and Angela Merkel today tells a different story. That's a cold picture,” Matthews added.
NPR’s Tamara Keith informed Matthews that they indeed did make eye contact even though clueless Matthews might not have thought so. She conceded that “[s]ometimes, pictures capture that perfect moment.”
Earth to Chris: if people are correctly posing for pictures, you usually look into the camera.
Turning to why Trump doesn’t like Merkel, Keith surmised that it’s “probably because she was close the Barack Obama, among other things.”
Speaking of The Times, correspondent and MSNBC contributor Yamiche Alcindor argued that Trump “sees her as competition” because “people also see her, in some ways, as the leader of the free world.”
Now, who did Alcindor define as “people” saying that? Well, turns out, it’s her colleagues in the liberal media: “There have been all these stories and columnists saying that she’s kind of taking — she’s stepping in to the one when the United States is now being weakened.”
“And she took all those refugees and he opposes that strongly,” Keith added to which Matthews responded how Merkel is “solid, I’ll tell you that.”
This wasn’t the first time in 2017 that Hardball invoked sexism concerning Republicans. On April 4, Matthews and Mother Jones Washington bureau chief David Corn became unglued in suggesting that Susan Rice was under fire over the reported unmasking controversy because of racism and sexism.
Here’s the relevant transcript from MSNBC’s Hardball on June 6:
MSNBC’s Hardball
June 6, 2017
7:40 p.m. Eastern [TEASE]
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Up next, speaking of Obama envy, President Trump gets a, well, cold welcome today from — look at this weird handshake. They don’t actually look at each other. They’re like those cardboard stand-ups almost with the way they talk. Look at this? What’s this? The finger-pointing, pointing up and down. What is he up to here? This is cold stuff. I like Merkel. Anyway, the relationship she once shared with President Obama. We’re going to talk about that. That was a good relationship. Look at them together there. The Roundtable is coming in to weigh in on that strange situation. Straight ahead.
(....)
7:49 p.m. Eastern
MATTHEWS: Anyway, The New York Times is reporting today that President Trump was more annoyed by the prospect of being scolded by Angela Merkel than the upcoming meeting with Putin. It is no secret that Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany, had a closer working relationship, as Ruth said with President Barack Obama, seen here at the G-20. Look at them. They're cuddling. Anyway, well, that was then. This picture today of President Trump and Angela Merkel today tells a different story. That's a cold picture. What do you make of it?
TAMARA KEITH: Well, and at least they're shaking hands and they made some eye contact.
MATTHEWS: They're not looking at each other.
KEITH: No, also, according to the pool reports, did make eye contact. Sometimes, pictures capture that perfect moment.
MATTHEWS: Why does Trump not like Merkel?
KEITH: Well, probably because she was close the Barack Obama, among other things.
MATTHEWS: She's competent.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: And people also see her, in some ways, as the new leader of the free world. There have been all these stories and columnists saying that she’s kind of taking — she’s stepping in to the one when the United States is now being weakened.
MATTHEWS: Yeah, leaders.
ALCINDOR: There’s also that. There’s this idea that he sees her as competition
KEITH: And she took all those refugees and he opposes that strongly.
MATTHEWS: She’s solid, I’ll tell you that.
RUTH MARCUS: There also might be a little gender thing. Just saying.
MATTHEWS: There is a pattern. The round table is sticking with us and, up next, these three will tell me something I don’t. By the way, everybody is a woman here except me.
MARCUS: There’s a gender thing.
