During MSNBC’s special impeachment trial coverage on Wednesday, Hardball host Chris Matthews couldn’t help himself from comparing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to a cartoon character and whined that the Republican lawmaker supposedly “always gets away with” whatever he does.
Talking to Democratic Montana Senator Jon Tester, Matthews ranted: “If the Bugs Bunny, I call him, of this business, the clever Mitch McConnell, who is so much a Bugs Bunny character, he always gets with it. And we know he got away with something that he did wrong, just like Bugs Bunny.”
After his outburst, Matthews continued on with his question, wondering if Senate Democrats would be willing to strike a deal with McConnell on potential witnesses and even agree to having Joe and Hunter Biden testify.
Tester predictably dismissed the idea and claimed the Bidens weren’t relevant to the proceedings. Desperate to follow Joe Biden’s marching orders to the media, Matthews proclaimed: “Joe Biden could say, ‘I don’t know why they’re investigating me, I never had a conversation with my son about anything to do with Burisma, ever. So there’s my answer, move on.’”
Tester chimed in: “That’s correct. That’s exactly correct.”
In another segment minutes later, Matthews went after other Republican senators: “I do wonder about Pat Toomey, Rob Portman, people like that, who I respect for who they, they’re conservatives but they’re not crazy people. And you would think they would have a little pride here.”
So if McConnell is Bugs Bunny, does that make Matthews Elmer Fudd?
Here is a transcript of the January 22 exchange:
11:36 AM ET
(...)
CHRIS MATTHEWS: If the Bugs Bunny, I call him, of this business, the clever Mitch McConnell, who is so much a Bugs Bunny character, he always gets with it. And we know he got away with something that he did wrong, just like Bugs Bunny. My question is, if he comes up with a last-minute, “Okay, you really want Bolton and Mulvaney, give me a couple Bidens.” What do you want your leadership to say? No deal?
SEN. JON TESTER [D-MT]: What I would say is this, what I would say is, “Mitch, we want a fair trial, we want a transparent trial. We had amendments all last night about bringing in information and bringing in witnesses, and on every one of them, you made a motion to table. You haven’t shown that you want to have a fair trial, a transparent trial, a trial that the American public can see.”
MATTHEWS: So what happens when Trump says, “I offered them Bolton, but they wouldn’t take either of the Bidens?” I’m talking politics here. You think it’s better to just say no deal, that’s the smart move for the Democrats? No deal, no Biden for Bolton, none of that? That’s the smart move?
TESTER: No, I don’t know. I want to get the information, but the point is, is this, Chris – tell me what Hunter Biden or Joe Biden know about the charges of the impeachment. They don’t know anything about it because they weren’t there. They weren’t in the room. And that’s what separates them from Mulvaney.
MATTHEW: Joe Biden could say, “I don’t know why they’re investigating me, I never had a conversation with my son about anything to do with Burisma, ever. So there’s my answer, move on.”
TESTER: That’s correct. That’s exactly correct.
(...)
