Clearly, Chris Matthews hasn’t calmed down any bit in the slightest since Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement on June 27. MSNBC’s Hardball host was still raging on Monday night hours ahead of President Trump nominating Kennedy’s replacement, declaring it to be “a political appointment even more than the Supreme Court.”
“Julius Caesar wrote that gall was divided into three parts. Well, so is the government of the United States and one of those three parts is to be decided tonight when President Trump declares his pick for the decisive fifth seat in the Supreme Court,” Matthews proclaimed after the Hardball opening credits.
As if appointments by Democratic presidents were sober and in the country’s best interest, Matthews deemed whomever Trump picks to be “a political appointment even more than the Supreme Court and who sits on it often is” with supporting evidence being his favorite talking points of Bush v. Gore and Citizens United cases being blatantly political by the Court’s Republican-appointed judges.
Matthews continued:
For Trump, this pick is a chance to middle, to use a street corner political term, those Democrats that are from states that are strong for him and force them to choose between the Democratic Party in Washington or representing their voters back home, voting the way New York's Chuck Schumer wants him or her to vote or the way most voting adults in, say, North Dakota or Indiana or West Virginia want them to vote.
Only then did Matthews acknowledge his audience and say “good evening...where President Trump is just two hours away from announcing his Supreme Court pick...that will almost certainly shift the balance of the Court rightward and could have a wide-ranging impact on issues like abortion rights and gay rights.”
“Justice Anthony Kennedy was often the decisive vote on the most contentious constitutional issues the court faced. Now, President Trump seeks to fill his vacancy with a strong conservative who can serve 40 to 45 years, as Trump suggested. The former Apprentice host has spent the last week building the drama with all the flash of a primetime reality TV reveal,” he concluded before reading a tweet and airing a Trump soundbite from over the weekend.
To see the relevant transcript from MSNBC’s Hardball on July 9, click “expand.”
MSNBC’s Hardball
July 9, 2018
7:00 p.m. Eastern
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Julius Caesar wrote that gall was divided into three parts. Well, so is the government of the United States and one of those three parts is to be decided tonight when President Trump declares his pick for the decisive fifth seat in the Supreme Court. It will be a political appointment even more than the Supreme Court and who sits on it often is. Never forget who decided the year 2000 election for president or decided in the Citizens United case on the role of money in every U.S. election. For Trump, this pick is a chance to middle, to use a street corner political term, those Democrats that are from states that are strong for him and force them to choose between the Democratic Party in Washington or representing their voters back home, voting the way New York's Chuck Schumer wants him or her to vote or the way most voting adults in, say, North Dakota or Indiana or West Virginia want them to vote. Good evening. I'm Chris Matthews in the nation's capital where President Trump is just two hours away from announcing his Supreme Court pick. It's a choice that will almost certainly shift the balance of the Court rightward and could have a wide-ranging impact on issues like abortion rights and gay rights. Justice Anthony Kennedy was often the decisive vote on the most contentious constitutional issues the court faced. Now, President Trump seeks to fill his vacancy with a strong conservative who can serve 40 to 45 years, as Trump suggested. The former Apprentice host has spent the last week building the drama with all the flash of a primetime reality TV reveal. He wrote on Twitter this morning: “I have long heard that the most important decision a U.S. President can make is the selection of the Supreme Court Justice — will be announced tonight at 9:00 P.M.”
