Hardball

Fourteen years ago tomorrow (December 10), liberals were ecstatic as President Barack Obama accepted the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. Obama had been president for a mere 11 days before the window for nominations closed on January 31, but his media fan club nonetheless celebrated the “towering honor” bestowed upon their hero.

Eight years ago, when ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton faced tough questions over the Benghazi disaster, helpful news reporters lavished praise on her performance while condemning the partisanship of Republicans who dared question the Democratic presidential frontrunner.

During the 2011 debt ceiling fight, the media relentlessly harassed Republican attempts to rein in spending, as journalists demanded tax increases and blasted conservatives as hostage takers and bomb-toting terrorists.

The indictment of former President Trump has prompted gleeful cheers among many in the left-wing media, but a similar indictment of former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards 12 years ago was jeered at the time as an “overreach” that could wind up being an “embarrassment” for the Justice Department.

There’s a new battle brewing over the federal debt ceiling. Ten years ago, after the Obama administration instigated massive federal spending to deal with the Great Recession, Republicans insisted on long-term deficit reduction, and the liberal media slammed them as nihilists, hostage-takers, terrorists, suicide bombers and zombie vampires.

After almost a year and a half away from television, former longtime MSNBC host Chris Matthews made his return to his old network and time slot on Tuesday’s ReidOut to promote his new book and sound off on everything from the 2020 election to January 6 to his departure from MSNBC to infrastructure to the Peace Corps to even South African politics.

The following are just a few of the most hate-filled attacks on Rush Limbaugh over the years (as culled from the MRC’s archives)

It’s been almost two months since former Hardball host Chris Matthews stepped down from his weeknight post, but the MSNBC veteran demonstrated in an interview late last week that his views are just as liberal now as they were during his decades-long television tenure. After stating that the sexual harassment charge made against him by GQ columnist Laura Bassett was “highly justified,” Matthews…

On the Monday before “Super Tuesday,” longtime MSNBC host Chris Matthews came on the air and promptly, tartly announced he was retiring, that “this will be my last Hardball.” His language and tone strongly implied he was being pushed out. Politically, it felt like MSNBC was shedding a host that had become a liability with the Sanders socialists who are a decent chunk of their audience.

After MSNBC Hardball host Chris Matthews was forced out of a job Monday, the hosts of ABC’s The View had mixed reactions on Tuesday’s show. While some of the hosts praised Matthews, Joy Behar revealed she was fed up with the host’s sexist remarks about women. In particular, she was peeved he had complimented Republican women’s appearances while disparaging Hillary Clinton’s.

He’s gone! After 23 years at CNBC and MSNBC, Chris Matthews has “retired” as Hardball host. Here at the MRC we’ve documented Matthews’s long career of slams on conservatives and his thrills over “immaculate” Obama and Jesus-like Bill Clinton. The following are just a few of those Hardball lowlights over the years: 

Following Monday’s sudden retirement/pushing out of longtime MSNBC pundit Chris Matthews after a plethora of recent negative headlines, Hardball still needed some to see it through to the end. Frequent fill-in host Steve Kornacki was left to soldier on and, while he did, emotions were high. Putting aside Matthews's actions, Kornacki handled Monday night with command, genuine (and heartbreaking)…

MSNBC’s Hardball is no more! That was part of the somber announcement host Chris Matthews made at the top of the program on Monday when he announced his retirement from the network. The move came after a week of pressure from supporters of Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and the #MeToo movement for him to be fired for controversial comments he had made. The pressure appeared so great that he wasn’t…

On Friday evening, MSNBC host Chris Matthews made an embarrassing faux pas as he seemed to forget that South Carolina has more than one black politician and confused Republican Senator Tim Scott with Democratic candidate Jaime Harrison.