Following on the heels of his Wednesday show peddling falsehoods and conspiracy theories regarding the sexual misconduct claim against Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh, MSNBC’s Hardball host Chris Matthews doubled down for Thursday’s edition, plus took the gross step of ranking the Kavanaugh claim as worse than the spousal abuse alleged against former White House staffer Rob Porter and the alleged pedophilia by Roy Moore.
The crazy train left the station five minutes into the show when Matthews stated that the Republicans face “an inconvenient truth” with Dr. Christine Blasey Ford being a psychologist who “has a story to tell and it's her memory that she's counting on and it's clear and it's tragic and it's crystal clear in her mind.”
USA Today’s Susan Page agreed, adding that “the perils are so great” for Republicans and peddled Matthews’s conspiracy theory that more allegations could be waiting until after Republicans put Kavanaugh on the Court.
As a preview for how ludicrous of a spectacle the questioning of Kavanaugh will get, Matthews offered a preview with specifics about one’s alcoholic habits from 30 years ago (click “expand” for more):
How do you question a guy who says he doesn't remember anything? He doesn't remember the '80s as far as I'm concerned. I mean, he doesn't know anything about any party, but if you're really honest, it seems you really say, did you ever drink at a party? How many parties did you go to in the '80s when you did drink? Is it possible you might have forgotten something? Did you ever get a buzz that got you out of hand? Did you ever have a blackout? Did you ever drink so much that you had to be driven home? All kinds of questions. What's your limit? Eight beers? 15 beers? What did you drink in those days? I mean, it seems like he's going to have to admit that he existed back then.
Later, Matthews told Page that only Democrats “want to hear what [Ford] has to say” by “giv[ing] her full dignity and respect” while “Republicans don't seem to be focused on finding out the truth here” but rather “the schedule and the rules of their committee.”
Just like earlier in the segment, Page took Matthews’s premise and ran with it, engaging in some whataboutism:
And, you know, there are things you can criticize about Democrats for sure when it came to the Monica Lewinsky investigation, but this is a different time. This is going to resonate, I think, in a different way with Americans generally and especially with American women. We've just had a year of — coming up on the one year anniversary of the Me Too movement that — that empowered hundreds, thousands of women to come forward with stories that are pretty similar to Dr. Ford's.
Matthews followed up with another conspiracy wondering whether “more stories” (presumably witnesses or women) will come forward, but Page didn’t signal how she felt about that one.
Around the 7:13 p.m. and 7:59 p.m. Eastern marks, Matthews again spoke without evidence when he argued that the President’s measured responses to the fiasco signals he believes Ford and thus thinks Kavanaugh’s guilty.
The worst exchange came after The New York Times’s Peter Baker invoked the prior allegations of impropriety toward young girls by Roy Moore, alleged spousal abuse by Rob Porter, and misconduct claims by various Fox News employees.
He mentioned those cases next to Kavanaugh in relation to how the President has all rallied behind them, but Matthews chose to step in by making a grotesque ranking of sorts between the Kavanaugh claim and the others (click “expand” to read more):
Well, okay. I just wanted to say — I have to delineate here. Susan may be agree with me. I’m delineating. If he did what he is accused of, stands accused of in this case, closed the door, shoves a woman into a room with the help of somebody else — another guy, throws her on the bed, jumps on top of her, covers her mouth when she screams for help. I — it seems to me that's in a category of sexual assault that's a bit more egregious than these other cases. I don't want to delineate except how does he turn his back and say, that doesn't matter.
The only semblance of balance came much later in the show thanks to U.S. News & World Report’s David Catanese, who called out Democrats and Ford’s camp for “playing semantics” and admitted that they have been “overplaying their hand.”
To see the relevant transcript from MSNBC’s Hardball on September 20, click “expand.”
MSNBC’s Hardball
September 20, 2018
7:05 p.m. Eastern
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Susan, it seems like there's an inconvenient truth here. It’s that this professional, this psychologist with a Ph.d. has a story to tell and it's her memory that she's counting on and it's clear and it's tragic and it's crystal clear in her mind. How do the Republicans and the public deal with the fact that, if she goes in there next week and testifies about what she said Kavanaugh did to her as a teenager, how do you believe that it just was made up? Who's going to believe it was made up?
SUSAN PAGE: If you want to know how nervous Republicans are about this, just consider that you've got 11 Republican senators who are voluntarily giving up TV cameras.
MATTHEWS: You're right.
PAGE: When was the last time that happened? It's happening because they are —
MATTHEWS: That's a great point.
PAGE: — sc — the peril —
MATTHEWS: They're giving their life's blood away.
PAGE: — the perils are so great. Even if they push Brett Kavanaugh through to confirmation, the perils have not ended. What if there’s more allegations that come forward? What if we have a more serious investigation after they succeed in pushing him through? This has — this has both short-term and long-term dangers for the GOP.
MATTHEWS: I think the phrase, Dr. Ford, Peter, is going to be powerful. Dr. Ford, tell us what happened. Not what's her name as Art hatch calls her, the other ones — this mixed up person, this confused woman. I mean, the phrase is used by some of these Republicans so far are awful, but now when they have to do it one-to-one, face to face, excuse me, they're going to have to call her Dr. Ford and they're going to have to listen to her.
PETER BAKER: Well, that's right, obviously. I think that's what Susan just said correctly, which is why they want a lawyer to do it who would keep them from looking so political and, by the way, keep the Democrats on the other side from doing that same thing. Remember, several of those Democrats are running for president and they obviously have an interest in, you know, pretty argumentative, perhaps interrogation of Judge Kavanaugh so the Republicans look at this and it's in both their interests to make it a little bit more professional by having a lawyer do it. Take the temperature down.
(....)
7:08 p.m. Eastern
MATTHEWS: How do you question a guy who says he doesn't remember anything? He doesn't remember the '80s as far as I'm concerned. I mean, he doesn't know anything about any party, but if you're really honest, it seems you really say, did you ever drink at a party? How many parties did you go to in the '80s when you did drink? Is it possible you might have forgotten something? Did you ever get a buzz that got you out of hand? Did you ever have a blackout? Did you ever drink so much that you had to be driven home? All kinds of questions. What's your limit? Eight beers? 15 beers? What did you drink in those days? I mean, it seems like he's going to have to admit that he existed back then.
(....)
7:10 p.m. Eastern
MATTHEWS: Susan, it seems like — I said this last night, I think it's true that the two parties are looking at this differently and I don’t Democrats are always interested in the truth. I mean, they — they — Lewinsky and all of that mess that went on in the 90s, they weren't interested in truth back then. But now they're the ones that want this woman to have here case — her day in court. They want to hear what she has to say. They want give her full dignity and respect. They want to hear it. Republicans are focusing on the rules. “Hey, how come you didn't come in earlier? How come Feinstein didn't tell us about this letter? How come you're interrupting our schedule?” It just seems like they’re really being “why are you on my lawn, you know?” The Republicans don't seem to be focused on finding out the truth here. They're focusing on the schedule and the rules of their committee.
PAGE: And, you know, there are things you can criticize about Democrats for sure when it came to the Monica Lewinsky investigation, but this is a different time. This is going to resonate, I think, in a different way with Americans generally and especially with American women. We've just had a year of — coming up on the one year anniversary of the Me Too movement that — that empowered hundreds, thousands of women to come forward with stories that are pretty similar to Dr. Ford's.
MATTHEWS: Do you think we'll hear more stories coming in this case?
PAGE: I don't know.
CYNTHIA ALKSNE: Why would anybody come forward after what she's been through?
(....)
7:13 p.m. Eastern
MATTHEWS: It seems, to me, that Trump is like the Humphrey Bogart character in Casablanca who said “I stick my neck out for nobody.” I don't know why he would stick his neck out for Brett Kavanaugh, at this point, having a sense, I'm not saying a familiarity with this woman's testimony, but Trump must believe that this woman is telling the truth. I mean, he must believe that. I don't think in any of his cases women made up anything. Your thoughts?
BAKER: Well, look, I don't think President Trump has any particularly strong or — relationship or affinity for Judge Kavanaugh in a personal way that would make him say I want to really stand be by him but I do think he gets his back up when it comes to issues of sexual allegations against people. Look what happened with Roy Moore in Alabama in the Senate race. Look what happened, he defends other prominent people who have been accused of things, Fox News host and so forth. He hired Bill Shine. I think that, you know, he has this idea that, you know, men have been accused unfairly, unfair — you know, remember he defend — sorry, he defended Rob Porter even his own aide who was accused of —
MATTHEWS: Well, okay. I just wanted to say —
BAKER: — spousal abuse.
MATTHEWS: — I have to delineate here. Susan may be agree with me. I’m delineating. If he did what he is accused of, stands accused of in this case, closed the door, shoves a woman into a room with the help of somebody else — another guy, throws her on the bed, jumps on top of her, covers her mouth when she screams for help. I — it seems to me that's in a category of sexual assault that's a bit more egregious than these other cases. I don't want to delineate except how does he turn his back and say, that doesn't matter.
(....)
7:45 p.m. Eastern
MATTHEWS: How can he say I wasn't at the house, if he doesn't know what house? David, he said, I wasn't at that house? What house are we talking about? You just said that house, whatever that house was?
DAVID CATANESE: Sure. Do we know if he is going to testify if she doesn't agree to? That’s not clear. You know, I don't be know if you can have a hearing with just Brett Kavanaugh on Monday if she doesn’t decide to show.
MATTHEWS: She says she'll do it next week, though.
CATANESE: Well, they're playing semantics. Monday is not good, maybe Wednesday is. I actually think there's a tipping point here and it was the Democrats were ahead on this issue. It's starting to swing towards Republicans because the Democrats were overplaying their hand on when they can hold this hearing and I think it’s going to solidify the Jeff Flake's and the Bob corker’s and the Susan Collins’s —
MATTHEWS: But how can they say — well, you might be right. This thing is moving.
CANTANESE: I think and if they pull his nomination the base will go crazy. The Republican base will go crazy and that's the last thing the Republicans have left to at least hold — to play even in this election. If the base stays home, this is going to be more than a wave. It’ll be an onslaught.
(....)
7:58 p.m. Eastern
MATTHEWS: Trump watch Thursday, September 20th, 2018. President Trump has been keeping a safe distance from his Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. He's praising him, but not quite defending him and this is consistent with Trump's go it alone approach in life, whether it's with nations or people, like the Humphrey Bogart character in Casablanca, he sticks his neck out for nobody. But there's something added in the case of Kavanaugh. I wonder if Trump suspects that the accusation made by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford would be true. Why would Trump not think so? He figure that Senator Feinstein held onto Dr. Ford’s letter until the last minute. He may figure the Democrats as a group are out to screw him on this nomination. He may assume they're playing as tough as Mitch McConnell has played on court appointments, as tough as he, Donald Trump, plays on just about everything. But assuming Democrats are playing tough doesn't mean they didn't have this ace in their hand. It doesn't mean that Dr. Ford's story isn't an accurate account of what she remembers that night in high school or that her story, as horrific as it is, isn't from something that actually happened. Well, the key fact as I see it is that Donald Trump may recognize the behavior accused here against Brett Kavanaugh as just what happened.
