Lacking any self-awareness, MSNBC’s Hardball host Chris Matthews opened Thursday’s show by blurting out the word “loser” then lambasted Republicans and President Trump as “barbarians” running Washington.
If that name-calling wasn’t enough, Matthews later diagnosed the American Health Care Act (AHCA) contrived by a “gang of Obama-litionists” as having suffered “political euthanasia” and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (Calif.) as a dog for informing Trump Wednesday about intelligence collected against his team.
In the tease prior to the Hardball opening, Matthews blabbed out “loser” before whining that “[t]his is a city sacked by barbarians right now, nothing stands where it did before,” whether it’s on intelligence or health care.
Matthews started with the intelligence leaking and Nunes “run[ning] to the White House with the political commitment of a first aid kit, trying desperately to bandage the President's self-inflicted wound, his claim that his predecessor wiretapped him during the campaign.”
He added that Nunes failed to “be a big enough bandage” and then turned to health care and more childish insults:
Meanwhile, the President's health care bill, Trumpcare, lies tonight in grave condition, pulled from the schedule. A case of political euthanasia, there was no way it was going to survive only of how much pain this gang of Obama-litionists — Obama-litionists is going to suffer.
Quipping that the President “came into office with a pre-existing condition” in the form of himself, the liberal host ruled that, based on the Republican infighting over how to replace Obama, Trump has zero clue what he’s doing.
Less than five minutes later, Matthews took a page from a person he detests (i.e. Trump) and referred to another person he loathes in Nunes a dog. Matthews stated this while interviewing Democratic Congressman Mike Quigley (Ill.):
You know, there is a civics lesson and we all are lucky enough to get in high school if we go to a decent school and get a decent civics class, which is hard to do these days and you understand the checks and balances. It's the job of Congress not to obey the president but to watch him and to make sure he does a good job of operating the executive branch. Does Nunes know that? Or does he think his job is to play St. Bernard to the President when he's in trouble?
Here’s the relevant portions of the transcript from MSNBC’s Hardball on March 23:
MSNBC’s Hardball
March 23, 2017
7:00 p.m. Eastern
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Loser. Let’s play Hardball. [HARDBALL OPENING CREDITS] Good evening, I'm Chris Matthews in Washington. This is a city sacked by barbarians right now, nothing stands where it did before. The Chairman of the House intelligence committee runs to the White House with the political commitment of a first aid kit, trying desperately to bandage the President's self-inflicted wound, his claim that his predecessor wiretapped him during the campaign. U.S. Congressman Nunes turns out not to be a big enough bandage. Well, nothing he’s got backs Trump’s claims that a sick President Obama wiretapped him at Trump Tower during the campaign. Well, by the way that Trump claim Obama was sick was in quotes. Well, it wasn't in quotes, really, he meant it and still hasn't taken it back, much less apologized for it. Meanwhile, the President's health care bill, Trumpcare, lies tonight in grave condition, pulled from the schedule. A case of political euthanasia, there was no way it was going to survive only of how much pain this gang of Obama-litionists — Obama-litionists is going to suffer. Right now, House Republicans are meeting to plot the way forward? Maybe, but Trump’s problem is that he came into office with a pre-existing condition, himself. He had no idea of how to replace ObamaCare and tonight’s yanking of the Trumpcare from the schedule proves that. We begin tonight with fallout from Devin Nunes' mad dash to the White House yesterday. The House Intelligence Chairman ran right past the members of his own committee on his way to multiple press conferences and a meeting with the President. He shared what he called alarming new information that Trump associates were picked up on under surveillance of foreign officials.
(....)
7:06 p.m. Eastern
MATTHEWS [TO DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSMAN MIKE QUIGLEY]: You know, there is a civics lesson and we all are lucky enough to get in high school if we go to a decent school and get a decent civics class, which is hard to do these days and you understand the checks and balances. It's the job of Congress not to obey the president but to watch him and to make sure he does a good job of operating the executive branch. Does Nunes know that? Or does he think his job is to play St. Bernard to the President when he's in trouble?
