When it comes to MSNBC’s Hardball host Chris Matthews, one constant throughout the last decade plus with him has always been an obsessive dislike of former Vice President Dick Cheney and his family with Wednesday offering the latest installment as he admitted to his guests that it “makes me happy” and even “mirthful” that Colin Powell’s leaked e-mails showed a similar sentiment.
First, Matthews continued the media’s insistence that Powell is somehow still a moderate and firm Republican despite the fact that he endorsed President Obama twice over honorable men John McCain and Mitt Romney plus seemingly trashed Republicans publically (and privately) at every turn for moving too far to the right (i.e. exactly the type of argument the media loves to promote).
Once Matthews got that out, BBC’s Katty Kay started to highlight Powell’s harsh tone in e-mails about Republicans and Matthews immediately went right to the Cheneys.
Seeking to strike some illustration of a balance, Kay worked in a mention of what Powell thought about Hillary Clinton along with Republicans:
The Cheneys he talks about. He talked about them and said the party left him a long time ago and he is pretty scathing about the Republican Party as well in an e-mail, for example, to his daughter. I actually think the more surprising thing in these e-mail leaks is what he says about Hillary Clinton who he says is a friend of his but then goes on to say that she’s greedy, not transformational and overly ambitious. That’s pretty damning.
Kay succeeded for a few moments in distracting Matthews from the Cheney talk as Matthews added to the Clinton discussion that Powell found her hubris to constantly be a source of frustration in always messing things up.
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Moments later, however, Matthews turned to BuzzFeed’s McKay Coppins and ruled that he’s “like most people” in possessing “a certain view” of Colin Powell (as do most people when viewing others, but that’s beside the point) as that of “an older brother.”
He then continued before Coppins could steer things back to topics besides Matthews’s favorite proverbial punching bag:
Not that much older, but I got to tell you. I look up to the guy. I didn’t think he did — I think he got bamboozled by the bad guys going into the Iraq War and he should have — but he’s more a salute guy, you know, than a politician, but I do think when he thinks that the Cheneys are as bad as I think they are, that makes me happy. That makes me mirthful cause I know who they are. I think they're the biggest hawks in the world, but you know, here’s a guy who is not — he’s a soldier, a general and he believes you get into the wars when you have to and you figure out how to get out of them before you go in them. Common sense.
The relevant portion of the transcript from MSNBC’s Hardball on September 14 can be found below.
MSNBC’s Hardball
September 14, 2016
7:21 p.m. Eastern
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Okay, let me go to Katty because you know, we all watch Colin Powell all the time for signs. He sort of the one back in ‘08, went for Obama, ‘012, went for Obama. I said, well that’s going to matter with moderate Republicans. This guy’s voice matters.
KATTY KAY: Yeah, it does matter and in these e-mails as well that have been leaked, he talks about people in the Republican party as idiots.
MATTHEWS: The Cheneys.
KAY: The Cheneys he talks about. He talked about them and said the party left him a long time ago and he is pretty scathing about the Republican Party as well in an e-mail, for example, to his daughter. I actually think the more surprising thing in these e-mail leaks is what he says about Hillary Clinton who he says is a friend of his but then goes on to say that she’s greedy, not transformational and overly ambitious. That’s pretty damning.
MATTHEWS: He also said something about her hubris too that it’s like —
KAY: That she has no hubris. Oh, that she ruins everything through her hubris.
MATTHEWS: Messes up everything.
KAY: Yeah. Yeah and I would be and I’m surprised that had he is that critical of Hillary Clinton on e-mail. I think everybody in Washington now is learning what you say on e-mail is probably going to be public very soon thanks to Russian hackers.
MATTHEWS: Yeah, it’s almost like mindreading — isn't it funny, McKay? Because I’m like most people on this. I have a certain view of the guy. I treat him like almost as an older brother. Not that much older, but I got to tell you. I look up to the guy. I didn’t think he did — I think he got bamboozled by the bad guys going into the Iraq War and he should have — but he’s more a salute guy, you know, than a politician, but I do think when he thinks that the Cheneys are as bad as I think they are, that makes me happy. That makes me mirthful cause I know who they are. I think they're the biggest hawks in the world, but you know, here’s a guy who is not — he’s a soldier, a general and he believes you get into the wars when you have to and you figure out how to get out of them before you go in them. Common sense.
MCKAY COPPINS: Yeah, right. Well, I thought it was interesting the way he attacks Cheneys. He says they're idiots. He’s — he was criticizing the book that he, Dick and Liz Cheney wrote together. He also takes on Rumsfeld. He and Condi Rice are actually in private e-mails between each other, they say Rumsfeld and the Pentagon messed up the nation-building after the invasion of Iraq. He says the boys in the band were brain dead. That’s one comment that Colin Powell makes.
