In case he's been too subtle in the past, an unhinged Chris Matthews made himself clear on Monday: He thinks the Republicans "hate" Barack Obama. The Hardball anchor fumed over insufficient outrage at Rudy Giuliani's assertion that Obama doesn't "love America." In the span of one show, he hit Republicans as "haters" seven times.
Matthews snarled, "You want to know about that fight among Republicans running for President is all about?...It's about who can hate President Obama the most." The anchor derided, "I will finish with the contest of hate that is going on among Republican candidates for president. Who can hate Obama the most?"
In a closing segment, Matthews sneered, "Let me finish tonight with this contest of hate we're watching among the Republican candidates for president. How much do you, how much can you, hate President Obama?"
Repeating himself, the anchor excoriated the 2016 contenders: "The battle line seems to be who hates Obama the worst?...The right wing of the Republican Party may be looking for its champion hater of Barack Obama..."
All this anger from Matthews came after Rudy Giuliani questioned Obama's patriotism. This infuriated the MSNBC host, despite the fact that Matthews did the same thing on multiple occasions. He wondered, "Does Rush Limbaugh hate this country?"
A transcript of the February 23 comments are below:
CHRIS MATTHEWS: You want to know about that fight among Republicans running for president is all about? What's it all about? It's about who can hate President Obama the most. And Rudy Giuliani proved it by questioning the president's love of country. Is there someone in the Republican Party who will blow the whistle on this crap? And that's the right word for it.
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MATTHEWS: And when we return, I will finish with the contest of hate that is going on among Republican candidates for president. Who can hate Obama the most? And that is the game they're fighting.
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7:59
MATTHEWS: Let me finish tonight with this contest of hate we're watching among the Republican candidates for president. How much do you, how much can you, hate President Obama? It's like old time events at the country affair. You pick up a big hammer and see how hard you can bring it down. The guy who gets to bell the ring and ring the loudest is the stud of the walk.
I've said what I thought of Rudy Giuliani's comment about Obama not loving the country, but loving it the way -- not loving it the way that he, Rudy, and others like him were brought up to. Well, that's Rudy and it's never easy to take back what you've said. But what truly astounds me here is the dittoing of his remark by Republican candidates for president. They have time to think, to talk to people, to hear people react to the "Obama doesn't love America talk," and yet, with all of the advantage of time and thought, except for Marco Rubio and Rand Paul, they've either agreed with Rudy or refused to give out a significant comment.
The answer foretells what's coming in the long battle for Republican presidential nomination. The battle line seems to be who hates Obama the worst? And who is positioned out there with the deepest contempt for the president? Not simply as a political adversary, but as a man. Look, if this continues to be contest, count on the sad stroll to Cleveland next summer because the right wing of the Republican Party may be looking for its champion hater of Barack Obama, while most people are looking for a strong, can do leader who comes from somewhere near the political middle, politically, and can make the compelling case that he or she can take this country where it wants to go, to greater opportunity for our children, to greater security for us all. And yes, to less stupid, wasteful, disgusting crap fights over the kind of Mickey Mouse stuff that Rudy had just thrown into the arena.
