Hypocrite?! Matthews Blasts Pence’s ‘Unflinching Support and Adoring Gaze’ for Trump

Curtis Houck
April 17th, 2019 6:09 PM
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Has Chris Matthews developed amnesia and forgotten about his borderline erotic love for Barack Obama? And did Omarosa Manigault Newman forget about her line about Trump critics that sounded like she was channeling the Superman line “kneel before Zod?” 

On Tuesday’s Hardball, that must have been the case for both as they repeatedly mocked “Stepford Vice President” Mike Pence’s “unflinching support and adoring gaze” for President Trump as if he were “the Lord.”

 

 

Matthews went first in one of two segments about how White House officials have struggled to say in the President’s good graces with only rare exceptions such as Pence. Before a mash-up of clips showing Pence praising Trump, Matthews screeched that “nobody seems to thrive like the President's dutiful deputy.”

“He is praying to Trump. Praying there. It's like we’re in church. Anyway, the Vice President's unflinching support and adoring gaze have been a hallmark of his term,” Matthews added in teeing up another set of clips of Pence starring at Trump set to gooey orchestral music.

After a break, Manigault Newman proclaimed that she “used my skills as an elementary school teacher when I briefed Donald Trump” because he was no smarter than a fourth grader with a “[l]ow attention span and limited vocabulary, inability to process difficult information and so I drew from the skills of working with very young, limited, people.”

Matthews replied by seeming to almost question Pence’s faith while the former Apprentice contestant and media-obsessed turncoat agreed:

MATTHEWS: Let’s look at Pence. This is — he has almost this beatific — he’s like in church looking at the Lord. It’s — stra — I mean, it's really strange. 

MANIGAULT NEWMAN: He's like a Stepford Vice President. He knew exactly what to say and when to do — watching him faun over Donald Trump in those cabinet meetings or during private meetings in the studies, it really was alarming. 

After more of the same from the AP’s Jonathan Lemire (except more dressed up and less overt than Matthews and Manigault Newman), Matthews concluded, to the laughter of Omarosa: “What does it feel like being a pander bear at the White House where you just pander to the guy?”

On Pence alone, this wasn’t the first time Matthews’s descriptions of Pence got a little bizarre. Back on July 12, 2016, Matthews told Katy Tur that the “churchy” Pence was “almost horny for the job” as Trump’s vice presidential pick.

Here’s a very small sampling of other NewsBusters headlines from Matthews drooling over Obama (besides the thrill going up his leg) (click “expand”):

Ah, what a trip down memory lane that none of you asked for!

To see the relevant transcript from MSNBC’s Hardball on March 16, click “expand.”

MSNBC’s Hardball
March 16, 2019
7:43 p.m. Eastern

CHRIS MATTHEWS: Donald Trump was the first reality star to compete and win the presidency. We’re more than two years in now and we continue to watch in realtime a political game of White House Survivor. DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen is the latest to be cast off the island, if you will, for not playing by the rules. According to The Atlantic, the keys to surviving the president are “praising trump,” that works, “mastering skills that he values and forging alliances.” And if all that fails, “plant yourself in front of a TV camera and impress the boss.” Both senior policy adviser, Steven Miller, and counsel to the President, Kellyanne Conway, have been rewarded for their ability to play the game. But nobody seems to thrive like the President's dutiful deputy, Mike Pence. 

VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE [on 05/04/17]: Thanks to the leadership of President Donald Trump, welcome to the beginning of the end of ObamaCare. [SCREEN WIPE] [on 12/20/17] Thank you for your faith in the American people. [SCREEN WIPE] President Trump has been making history since the first day of this administration. [SCREEN WIPE] [12/20/17] I know I speak on behalf of the cabinet and of millions of Americans when I say congratulations and thank you. [SCREEN WIPE] You restored American credibility on the world stage. [SCREEN WIPE] You signed more bills rolling back federal red tape than any president in American history. [SCREEN WIPE] You’ve spurred an optimism in this country. That’s setting records.[SCREEN WIPE] I’m deeply humbled as your Vice President to be able to be here. [SCREEN WIPE] [05/18/18] It's the greatest privilege of my to serve as Vice President to President Trump. He's a man of his word. He’s a man of action.

MATTHEWS: He is praying to Trump. Praying there. It's like we’re in church. Anyway, the Vice President's unflinching support and adoring gaze have been a hallmark of his term. Let's take a look.

[LOVE MUSIC OVER CLIPS OF PENCE STARRING AT TRUMP]

MATTHEWS: What a romantic movie that was. Anyway, it wasn't going unnoticed. The New Yorker once noted, the adoring gaze has “rarely been seen since the days of Nancy Reagan.” In fact, one Reagan official told The Atlantic: “I’d like my wife to look at me just for one day the way Mike Pence looks at President Trump every day they’re together. That would be special.” 

(....)

7:52 p.m. Eastern

MATTHEWS: Do you think, Omarosa he likes — thanks for coming on — do you think he likes people like yourself when you were at the White House, competing with other people, rivaling them to show how much flattery you can throw at him and how much nice you can say about him on TV. They — do they — does he like that war?

OMAROSA MANIGAULT NEWMAN: Oh, he loves to see his staffers fight. He loves to see them disagree. He loves to see them scratch each other's eyes out because he knows there is tension between collaborating and competition, but you know, I used my skills as an elementary school teacher when I briefed Donald Trump, you know, he had a short —

MATTHEWS: What are grade was Trump in? 

MANIGAULT NEWMAN: Fourth grade. Low attention span and limited vocabulary, inability to process difficult information and so I drew from the skills of working with very young, limited, people.

MATTHEWS: Let’s look at Pence. This is — he has almost this beatific — he’s like in church looking at the Lord. It’s — stra — I mean, it's really strange. 

MANIGAULT NEWMAN: He's like a Stepford Vice President. He knew exactly what to say and when to do — watching him faun over Donald Trump in those cabinet meetings or during private meetings in the studies, it really was alarming. 

MATTHEWS: I thought that Ken Adelman line — we didn't give his name, but Ken Adelman is a friend of mine. He was an arms control expert in Reagan. He said I’d like to have my wife look at me just once the way he looks at the president every day. What do you make of the beatific love affair that in the eyes of the vice president? Jonathan?

JONATHAN LEMIRE: It's a few things. I mean, first of all, Mike pence knows he sort of owes his political career to Donald Trump. He was facing a tough reelection bid in Indiana for governor in 2016 and Trump — when Trump picked him as his running mate. I mean, I think he’s also someone who has seen what happens if you cross Donald Trump. Think of all the advisers he’s jettisoned. Secretary of State Tillerson. James Mattis, the Defense Secretary, was one man who managed to stay in Trump’s good graces for awhile, but eventually he too was shown the door. Pence, you know, it’s obviously a much bigger deal to replace your Vice President on a ticket. Nobody suggested that has been a consideration, but Pence is a loud voice in the White House. He wants to preserve it. He also knows that Trump is very popular with Republicans. So I'm sure part of this, cozying himself up to Donald Trump is an eye to not just his short-term survival, but his long-term political health in his own party. You know, if Trump is reelected, Pence serves another four years as Vice President and becomes the odds on favorite to be the Republican nominee for president in 2024. If Trump is defeated next year, well then, Pence is still set up. He hasn't alienated fellow Republicans. He’s got a shot to make his own bid in the next election.

MATTHEWS: What does it feel like being a pander bear at the White House — [MANIGAULT NEWMAN LAUGHS] — where you just pander to the guy? 

MANIGAULT NEWMAN: I wouldn’t pander. I mean, he wants people who are willing to go on television and saying things that are — and defend decisions that are morally reprehensible and the moment you don't, like me, then he will discard you. 

MATTHEWS: Oooo.

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