Of all the pundits out there that could make this comparison, it seems somewhat fitting and all the more amusing that on Wednesday’s Hardball, host Chris Matthews credited 2016 GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump’s success in polls to the idea that he’s a “comic book hero” and “Sinatra kinda guy” that connects with Republican primary voters.
At the top of his MSNBC show, Matthews wondered if “there’s an outside chance” that “this comic book hero could actually take off” seeing as how he “talks to the Republican gut on ISIS, on illegal immigrants, on Obama, and politicians period.”
The humorous comparisons didn’t end there for the perpetually ridiculous Matthews as he remarked to The Huffington Post’s Howard Fineman and USA Today’s Susan Page that the New York City-based businessman “talks like the average guy in a saloon in a way that get to people and speaks that kind of American English in a way these other doormats in many ways don't know how to talk.”
Continuing on that theme, he professed to Page that “he’s a comic book hero to a lot of guys” along with his burning desire to “go around with a camera [and] interview cab drivers, doormat people who just got to this country and they say he's sorta like a Sinatra kinda guy.”
Near the segment’s conclusion, the three were discussing Trump on the issue of illegal immigration when Matthews brought German supermodel Heidi Klum into the fray to make a point about Trump and those that agree with him on this topic:
It just – it gets very tribal when you're talking to Donald Trump and I've always said that some of these guys would have no problem with illegal immigrations if the immigrants from the south were Heidi Klums – I mean, they were from northern Europe. I mean, it’s a bottom line here. This is an ethnic war we’re watching here, it's for real.
While Matthews was clearly going after Trump and the rest of the Republican field for being extreme, out of touch, etc., it’s not that surprising that the Hardball host would bungle his berating of a GOP candidate with comparisons and utterances that make even the most angered viewer have a laugh at Matthew’s expense.
The relevant portions of the transcript from MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews on July 1 can be found below.
MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews
July 1, 2015
7:00 p.m. Eastern
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Welcome to the whacky world of American politics. First, they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they attack you, then you win. So where's Donald Trump in all that? Well, first, the Republicans running for president led by frontrunner Jeb Bush, tried to pretend the man in the golden tower and with the beautiful wife wasn't there and now, they try laughing him off. When will that no longer be able to work? When will the attacks come? And if there's an outside chance that this guy who talks to the Republican gut on ISIS, on illegal immigrants, on Obama, and politicians period, could he leave the rest of them lying on the street? Is there a chance this comic book hero could actually take off? Howard Fineman is the global editorial director with the Huffington Post and Susan Page is Washington bureau chief from USA Today. Well, according to the newest polls, Donald Trump is now top tier. A new CNN poll out today has Trump alone in second place nationally with 12 percent. Jeb Bush is the front-runner in this new poll at 19. In Iowa, a new poll out today from Quinnipiac has Trump jumping into – also into second, into a tie for second place and a recent Suffolk University poll has Trump alone in second place in New Hampshire with 11 percent. He trails Jeb by just 3 up there. Howard, this is for real. The question is, is it for long? And I mean it and I wonder if all the other candidates are tiptoeing around the issues and he goes right like Archie Bunker to the gut. You don't like illegal immigrants, I don't like illegal immigrants. You don't like Obama, I don't like Obama. You don't like ISIS and you wish you were kicking them in the butt. I wish we were kicking them in the butt. He talks like the average guy in a saloon in a way that get to people and speaks that kind of American English in a way these other doormats in many ways don't know how to talk. Talk. Talk.
(....)
MATTHEWS: Yeah, I think he's a comic book hero to a lot of guys. I'd like to go around with a camera – interview cab drivers, doormat poeple who just got to this country and they say he's sorta like a Sinatra kinda guy. He has a lot of money and he seems to be enjoying it and talks like us.
(....)
MATTHEWS: I would think that we have a couple Cuban Americans, Howard, who are running for president, who will be in the ring with this guy perhaps as he bashes Latinos. We have one guy with a Mexican wife. It just – it gets very tribal when you're talking to Donald Trump and I've always said that some of these guys would have no problem with illegal immigrations if the immigrants from the south were Heidi Klums – I mean, they were from northern Europe. I mean, it’s a bottom line here. This is an ethnic war we’re watching here, it's for real.
