During a live, post-debate edition of Hardball on Tuesday night, Chris Matthews declared Hillary Clinton the likely winner in 2016 and immediately moved on to 2020. Matthews, who famously had a “thrill" up his leg for Barack Obama, ended a segment on the current Vegas odds by declaring, “I think Hillary is favored. I think she'll probably win the general. Probably. Probably.”
Having disposed of the 2016 race 327 days before election day, the MSNBC host allowed that there might be some trouble in 2020: “I think when she runs for re-election, which I expect she will, that will be even tougher. That's going to be tougher than this one.”
The rest of America might just have to wait until election day to see how 2016 turns out.
The MRC’s Dan Joseph cornered the liberal journalist at the debate and asked him about his infamous “thrill” remark. An irritated Matthews replied, “Go to hell. Just leave me alone.”
A transcript of the brief remark is below:
Hardball
12/15/15
12:33CHRIS MATTHEWS: I think Hillary is favored. I think she'll probably win the general. Probably. Probably. I think when she runs for re-election, which I expect she will, that will be even tougher. That's going to be tougher than this one. I think it's very hard for a party to stay in power more than 12 years. It’s just very hard.
