Previewing Donald Trump’s address to the nation on the government shutdown, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews on Tuesday night repeatedly and obsessively blamed the border battle on Rush Limbaugh, who the Hardball host derided as gutless. Matthews or his guests mentioned Limbaugh by name ten times in just one hour.
After an aside on the “guts” of John Wayne, the journalist sneered, “Rush Limbaugh, if he had any guts and stood for anything besides audience, he would say, ‘Let’s move on here. This isn’t helping.’” Matthews opened the show by blaming the shutdown on “hard-right agitators like Rush Limbaugh.”
Proving he has the radio star on the brain, Matthews snapped, “Rush Limbaugh is out saying he will bring down the Trump constituency, bring it down to nothing, if this President doesn't build this wall.”
Later, he continued, “Rush Limbaugh and his pals in the world at Fox say if this president doesn't build that wall, he’s finished politically.”
Talking to Jonathan Capehart, Matthews demanded, “So, he’s a dittohead? The President of the United States is a dittohead. He’s doing literally what Rush Limbaugh calls his people, those who ditto everything he says.”
Demanding that no one listen to Limbaugh, the Hardball host snarled,
This is what is awful about in our society. Because Rush Limbaugh can get ten million people, maybe on a good day. Fire. He’s a fireball in terms of audience. But that’s one third of one percent. What are we talking about? It’s not the majority of the American people.
If Limbaugh is so irrelevant, why did Matthews spend an entire show on him? Finally, the host ended with a John Wayne comparison:
John Wayne, who was the ultimate iconic figure of my generation. John Wayne was in every movie. He was the superstar. Mr. Tough guy, Mr. Marine. He said giving away the Panama Canal to the Panamanians was a good thing. And he had the guts to come out on the right and say that’s the smart move and it’s the American thing to do. Rush Limbaugh, if he had any guts and stood for anything besides audience, he would say, “Let’s move on here. This isn’t helping.”
A partial transcript is below. Click “expand” for more.
Hardball
1/8/197:03
CHRIS MATTHEWS: This president now finds himself in a crisis of his own making. As the partial government shutdown is in it's 18th day, amid Trump's stand off between congressional Democrats on one side and hard-right agitators like Rush Limbaugh on the other, tonight's speech is the latest gambit for a president looking for a way out.
7:05
MATTHEWS: On the other side, the President faces the second war front. Rush Limbaugh is out saying he will bring down the Trump constituency, bring it down to nothing, if this President doesn't build this wall.
7:37
MATTHEWS: [Pelosi] She says it’s an immorality. It’s an immorality to build this wall. Where’s the negotiating — Rush Limbaugh and his pals in the world at Fox say if this president doesn't build that wall, he’s finished politically.
7:44pm ET
AYESHA RASCOE (NPR White House reporter): [Trump] he is concerned that his base will turn on him and say you promised us a wall. We don't have a wall.
MATTHEWS: So, he’s a dittohead? The President of the United States is a dittohead. . He’s doing literally what Rush Limbaugh calls his people, those who ditto everything he says.
JONATHAN CAPEHART: Right. And I’m glad you brought up Rush Limbaugh. Because I don’t think it’s about shoring up base. I think it’s about keeping Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter and the others from criticizing him. We've been down this road before. Remember when the Senate passed the bill and Democrats went along with the bill that gave him $25 million in exchange for Dreamers and he was going to go for it and it was scuttled. And here we are with the president painting himself in to a corner over a wall that we learned this weekend was a rhetorical device to get him to talk about immigration. He's going to use the eminence of the Oval Office
MATTHEWS: This is what is awful about in our society. Because Rush Limbaugh can get ten million people, maybe on a good day. Fire. He’s a fire ball in terms of audience. But that’s one third of one percent. What are we talking about? It’s not the majority of the American people.
...
7:46pm ET
MATTHEWS: John Wayne, who was the ultimate iconic figure of my generation. John Wayne was in every movie. He was the superstar. Mr. Tough guy, Mr. Marine. He said giving away the Panama Canal to the Panamanians was a good thing. And he had the guts to come out on the right and say that’s the smart move and it’s the American thing to do. Rush Limbaugh, if he had any guts and stood for anything besides audience, he would say, “Let’s move on here. This isn’t helping.”
