On Monday, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews swooned over President Obama’s speech to the United Nations General Assembly and called it evidence that he was a “presidential figure who's become a global leader.”
The MSNBC host proclaimed that Obama’s speech shows he “is he going to be a post-presidential Nelson Mandela. He is going to be a man of the world selling democracy, claiming credit for climate change initiatives with opening to Cuba, with trade deals.”
Immediately after the speech, Brian Williams touted how in Obama’s speech “there was a swipe at Trump. He criticized those calling for the building of walls to keep out immigrants” and then turned to Matthews to heap praise on the president’s legacy:
What I saw there was the post-Presidential Obama, the man he wants to become. When he moves to New York where he paid great tribute to the city of New York, is he going to be a post-presidential Nelson Mandela...He is laying down all the values he is going to be spending the rest of his life, I believe, promoting. Today we saw it as an away game. It will soon be a home game for him. He will be a presidential figure who's become a global leader.
See relevant transcript below.
MSNBC’s NewsNation
September 28, 2015
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Well, he went wildly over a lot of time. These are supposed to be 15-minute addresses. He more than doubled that. Barack Obama just delivered a speech that could be subtitled "Reasons to love democracy." Chris Matthews, there was a swipe at Trump. He criticized those calling for the building of walls to keep out immigrants. He reminded nations chanting "Death to America" does not create jobs. And he called ISIS an apocalyptic cult. What did you make of that speech?
CHRIS MATTHEWS: I thought, as you said earlier, this was going to be a real effort on the part of his speech writer and the president, they worked hard on this. I think a couple things. The swipe the a Donald Trump, clearly. The laying down of the marker for his negotiations with Putin clearly there, saying he disagrees about the legitimacy of the Assad regime. What I saw there was the post-Presidential Obama, the man he wants to become.
When he moves to New York where he paid great tribute to the city of New York, is he going to be a post-presidential Nelson Mandela. He is going to be a man of the world selling democracy, claiming credit for climate change initiatives with opening to Cuba, with trade deals. He is laying down all the values he is going to be spending the rest of his life, I believe, promoting. Today we saw it as an away game. It will soon be a home game for him. He will be a presidential figure who's become a global leader.
