A day after President Trump’s announcement that the United States would recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, MSNBC’s Hardball host Chris Matthews declared in a “raw” prediction to Politico’s Susan Glasser that the move could lead to another Benghazi attack and thus the deaths of innocent Americans.
Pathetically, Matthews wouldn’t directly make his prediction, so he instead told Glasser that he had some thoughts and thus “you may not want to respond to it.”
He then dropped the word “Benghazi,” implying that Trump’s action will lead to diplomats getting killed:
The Republican Party ran against Hillary Clinton on the grounds four people were killed in Benghazi. Now they're creating a situation which is fraught with danger to people's lives, all our ambassadors around the world, all our diplomats, all our business people, all our missionaries, all our tourists are now in danger because of this step he took yesterday. How come he doesn't care about the human life that's now in danger?
The only question for Matthews here is does he still believe that the attack was caused by a stupid YouTube video?
In any case, Glasser replied that she couldn’t say “what is inside [Trump’s] mind” but “[w]hat I can say is that he was certainly warned of this” by “the two most senior members of his national security team” who opposed the decision.
“There's a deeply cynical view of the Arab world that they are being — that they are sharing and then you have Donald Trump saying it's about him, which is often what is shaping a lot of these foreign policy decisions,” she concluded.
Right before that, Matthews built up to that implication, telling Glasser that he wanted to “talk about consequences” as “[i]t seems to me a leader of any party, either gender or whatever, just forget, leader, leader, leader, leaders know consequences.”
“No matter what your politics, you know the future. You know if you do this, something else is going to happen. Does Trump know that what we're watching in the streets right now in Ramallah and places like that in Gaza was going to happen no matter what he said to spin anything,” Matthews wondered.
In part, Glasser stated that Trump “was told this very clearly by his State Department...and he doesn't really care” because “domestic politics seem to be the reason behind this” to the point that, according to Republican Senator Bob Corker (Tenn.), Trump wanted to make the announcement on Inauguration Day.
Here’s the relevant transcript from MSNBC’s Hardball on December 7:
MSNBC’s Hardball
December 7, 2017
7:37 p.m. EasternCHRIS MATTHEWS: Let's talk about consequences. It seems to me a leader of any party, either gender or whatever, just forget, leader, leader, leader, leaders know consequences. No matter what your politics, you know the future. You know if you do this, something else is going to happen. Does Trump know that what we're watching in the streets right now in Ramallah and places like that in Gaza was going to happen no matter what he said to spin anything? You tell them they're not going to get their capital, the Israeli state will get it, this is going to happen. did he know this?
SUSAN GLASSER: I think he was told this very clearly by his State Department. He was told it and he doesn't really care. I mean, as you pointed out, domestic politics seem to be the reason behind this and also the fact that Trump, from the very beginning of his administration, he wanted to do this literally on January 20th, the minute he took the oath of office. That's what I was told by Senator Corker months ago.
MATTHEWS: This is raw, and you may not want to respond to it. The Republican Party ran against Hillary Clinton on the grounds four people were killed in Benghazi. Now they're creating a situation which is fraught with danger to people's lives, all our ambassadors around the world, all our diplomats, all our business people, all our missionaries, all our tourists are now in danger because of this step he took yesterday. How come he doesn't care about the human life that's now in danger?
GLASSER: Look, Chris, I can't tell you what is inside his mind. What I can say is that he was certainly warned of this. He was, in fact, had the two most senior members of his national security team oppose this at some risk to their standing inside the administration. There's a deeply cynical view of the Arab world that they are being — that they are sharing and then you have Donald Trump saying it's about him, which is often what is shaping a lot of these foreign policy decisions.
MATTHEWS: The last thing I thought he would do is buy the neocon nonsense because I’ve heard that from people I like, but necons who who matter what you do to the Arab, they'll take it in the chin. I like your expertise.
