On his September 10 Hardball program, cradle Catholic Chris Matthews voiced his disdain for political candidates discussing their religious faith and/or citing the Bible at a campaign event. The target of Mr. Matthews's wrath was Dr. Ben Carson, who recently quoted from the biblical book of Proverbs to answer a question related to Donald Trump.
For his part, guest Michael Steele, a former RNC chairman and a fellow who once studied for the priesthood, agreed that he'd rather neither Trump nor Carson talk about their religious faith:
MSNBC
Hardball
Sept. 10, 2015CHRIS MATTHEWS: Michael Steele, I don't know what to say except, this is so high school. I'm sorry. It's not a great case for the Republican thinking here. I don't care what, it's summer, winter, fall, or spring. They're talking like high school kids yelling at each other at recess.
You know, first of all it's about, your girlfriend is not as good looking as mine and then it's you're not as good looking as mine and then it's my hair versus your hair and now I'm a better religious guy than you because I know more Bible citations than you. I don't think the doctor looked too good either. What's he talking about this stuff for? How about a big fat "no comment" when it comes to religion?
MICHAEL STEELE: Or just end that passage, that Bible passage on faith with himself. Put the period there and not go into, "well I don't know that that applies to him."
Again, I don't think that's first off, not very humble to refer back to the Scripture. But more importantly, I don't think that's the kind of discussion you want to have for the office of president. But do you understand the politics here, Chris? You have an opportunity here to galvanize evangelical Christians across the spectrum, behind the someone to solidify the numbers for Ben Carson. Trump knows that.
Trump says he's leading among evangelicals, that may or may not be true, but the gap could be closing and he wants to keep that distance. So that's the politics here and I don't think it's a smart way to play the politics, by using faith, one or the other.
.@hardball_chris blasting Ben Carson for talking about his Christian faith: pic.twitter.com/BklZrGpLvj
— Ken Shepherd (@KenShepherd) September 11, 2015
The way Matthews makes it sound, Dr. Carson is going about campaigning by constantly blathering on and on about the Bible, when in fact Carson's comment came in a short response to question posed to him Wednesday evening. As Dave Weigel of the Washington Post reported (emphasis mine):
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Ben Carson did not appear to be a man who set out to criticize Donald Trump Wednesday. He arrived at Anaheim's convention center for a rally, to which 8,000 people had RSVP'd, on the second day of a low-profile California swing. In a press conference before his speech, Carson talked about the faith of America's founders, the ease with which the Affordable Care Act could be dismantled, the Iran nuclear deal, and the difficulty of a Trump-style, deportation-first immigration reform.
It was only when he was asked to name a difference between himself and Trump that Carson seemed to lean in.
"The biggest thing is that I realize where my success has come from, and I don't any way deny my faith in God," said Carson. "And I think that probably is a big difference between us."
That was his entire answer. A reporter asked Carson to expand on that response, and on whether he didn't believe Trump's expressions of faith have been sincere.
"I haven’t heard it, I haven’t seen it," said Carson. "You know, one of my favorite, Proverbs 22:4, it says: 'By humility and the fear of the Lord, are riches and honor and life.' And that's a very big part of who I am. Humility, and fear of the Lord. I don’t get that impression with him. Maybe I'm wrong."
Trump, infamously, was recently asked by Bloomberg Politics hosts Mark Halperin and John Heilemann if he could name a favorite Bible verse. It was a pop quiz, based on Trump's popular stump speech riff about how his bestseller, The Art of the Deal, is his second favorite book, topped only by the word of God.
