Back on February 7 after the last Democratic presidential debate, our Curtis Houck caught MSNBC's Hardball host Chris Matthews in an epic rant against socialism and the dangers that a Bernie Sanders candidacy would pose to Democrats.
Matthews continued his anti-Sanders tirade Tuesday afternoon on Nicolle Wallace's Deadline: White House and warned that an argument should be made that not only are his proposals a hard left turn in our politics, but it could cause the party to lose 49 states in the Electoral College.
He began by focusing his ire on the other 2020 Democrats facing off against Sanders, expressing hope that they "are actually going to deliver" the attacks on him that he's "full of it."
Specifically, he honed in on the viciousness of his supporters and the unrealistic nature of his proposals becoming reality (click "expand"):
Are they going after him about the bad behavior of Bernie supporters or not? Is this how they do things in Denmark....He says he can't control them but I think he’s be called to account by the other candidates because they seem to have a hesitancy or a fear of going after his ideology, going after his self-declared socialism or even about the do-ability of all the things he says he's going to do in a — in a Congress that’s split right now.
(....)
And yet, nobody just says the obvious: Bernie, you're full of it! None of this going to get passed. You’re going to be miserable president, frustrated from the first day cause you’re not going to get Medicare for All, you’re not going to get free college tuition for public universities, you’re not going to get payoffs of all student loans. None of this is going to happen. And you're just going to sit there and stew in it. So why don't they bring that up. I do not understand why they don't bring that up.
Matthews urged Sanders's primary opponents to "punch" at him and tell him he's "full of it." Matthews warned that, like George McGovern in 1972, a Sanders candidacy might excite left-wing Democrats . . . but could wind up losing 49 states!
After MSNBC national analyst John Heilemann briefly intervened, Matthews doubled down with some questions for Sanders's opponents, whom he argued are "just pandering to the Bernie people right now":
Are they centrist Democrats? Are they moderate Democrats who believe in a market system and a safety net and decent regulation? The kind of government we’ve had for the modern 20th century, 21st century. Do they believe in that tradition of Kennedy and Roosevelt and ‘bama — Obama? Or don’t they? If they want to depart from the whole tradition of the party, go hard left yet.
Matthews then dropped the hammer, demanding that they come out against socialism and insist that "this country will never go that direction, and by the way we’ll lose 49 states."
He capped off this rant by telling Heilemann that he personally witnessed the 1972 Democratic National Convention "when the people on the left were dancing in glee" for having "defeated the moderates," but "went on to lose 49 states in their glee, so that could happen again."
Here's the transcript (click "expand").
MSNBC's Deadline White House
02/18/20
4:22 p.m. EasternCHRIS MATTHEWS: I hope that the candidates who have been telegraphing their punches against Sanders — Senator Sanders, are actually going to deliver them. I mean, I hope they actually do what they promised to do. Are they going after him about the bad behavior of Bernie supporters or not? Is this how they do things in Denmark? I mean, this is a preview of coming attractions, these people. He says he can't control them but I think he’s be called to account by the other candidates because they seem to have a hesitancy or a fear of going after his ideology, going after his self-declared socialism or even about the do-ability of all the things he says he's going to do in a — in a Congress that’s split right now. Everybody knows half the U.S. Senate’s run by Republicans. It’ll be by half Republicans next time and it takes 60 votes to get any of this stuff through. And yet, nobody just says the obvious: Bernie, you're full of it! None of this going to get passed. You’re going to be miserable president, frustrated from the first day cause you’re not going to get Medicare for All, you’re not going to get free college tuition for public universities, you’re not going to get payoffs of all student loans. None of this is going to happen. And you're just going to sit there and stew in it. So why don't they bring that up. I do not understand why they don't bring that up.
(....)
4:24 p.m. Eastern
MATTHEWS: They have to look at it the way Harry Truman looked at ‘48. He was assaulted on the left by the breakaway of Henry Wallace and he said, go ahead. Go your way and he had Strom Thurmond on the right, the segregationist crowd. They went the other way. He still beat — he still beat Dewey. In the end, you have to go where you believe. Are they centrist Democrats? Are they moderate Democrats who believe in a market system and a safety net and decent regulation? The kind of government we’ve had for the modern 20th century, 21st century. Do they believe in that tradition of Kennedy and Roosevelt and ‘bama — Obama? Or don’t they? If they want to depart from the whole tradition of the party, go hard left yet. They’re just — pandering to the Bernie people. And you know what pandering gets you? Nothing. It certainly doesn’t get respect. They've got to get out there and say, I disagree with socialism. I believe in the markets.
JOHN HEILEMANN: Right.
MATTHEWS: I think he's wrong. I think he'll never get it done, and this country will never go that direction, and by the way we’ll lose 49 states. And by the way, John Heilemann, I was there in 1972 at the Democratic convention, when the people on the left were dancing in glee. I saw them: they were literally — John Kenneth Galbraith, they were dancing in a circle. They were so happy —
HEILEMANN: Right.
MATTHEWS: — that they defeated the moderates like Tip O’Neill and Dick Dailey and they went on to lose 49 states in their glee, so that could happen again. So clearly. That’s what I see.
(h/t: Washington Free Beacon for publishing this first)
