Chris Matthews on Thursday snarled that the Republican Party has rejected Abraham Lincoln and become the home to racists. The Hardball anchor equated voter ID laws with bigotry, sneering that "you would think" that "no political party would want to be seen putting up obstacles to voting, that no party would want to be seen as the declared enemy of a large voting group."
Yet, according to Matthews, "...The party of Abraham Lincoln is now the party of massive resistance." The phrase "massive resistance" refers to an effort to stop racial integration in Virginia. The problem for the historically illiterate Matthews is that "massive resistance" was spearheaded in 1954 by United States senator Harry F. Byrd Sr. He was a Democrat, though. Not a Republican.
Singling out the Republican National Committee Chairman, the MSNBC anchor fumed, "Well, the person leading this partisan move to kill the vote, especially the minorities, is someone named Reince Priebus."
On February 13, 2014, Matthews slammed the GOP, saying Republicans are becoming the "party of Jefferson Davis." (It should be pointed out that Jefferson Davis was also a Democrat.)
On August 30, 2012, Matthews suggested that the RNC message was a return to slavery.
A transcript of the February 12 Hardball segment is below:
7:59 PM EST:
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Let me finish tonight with the Republican Party's official plan to remain competitive with the Democrats even as the demographics of this country shift.
The plan is to quite nakedly reduce the votes of those groups who tend to vote Democratic, minorities, poor, older people, to do it by requiring voters to present a government-issued photo ID card when they arrive at the voting station. If they don't show such a card, they don't get to vote.You would think the Republican effort is too blatant, that no political party would want to be seen putting up obstacles to voting, that no party would want to be seen as the declared enemy of a large voting group. The astounding fact is that in dozen of states, the GOP has proven itself quite willing to be seen this way. It's made no bones about standing up for voter ID requirements that it a special burden precisely on a groups, minorities, older, poor people that largely votes for the other party.
Well, the person leading this partisan move to kill the vote, especially the minorities, is someone named Reince Priebus. He is the reason the Republican talk of recruiting minority voters is so deep in deceit. As we heard tonight, the party of Abraham Lincoln is now the party of massive resistance.
