Hardball host Chris Matthews twice promoted Star Wars on his show two months after The Force Awakens director J. J. Abrams and his wife, Katie McGrath, donated to Kathleen Matthews’ congressional campaign, something Chris Matthews never disclosed.
The MSNBC anchor is currently facing calls to suspend his show after it was revealed that 48 of Matthews’ guests on Hardball had donated $79,050 to his wife’s campaign, sometimes just before or after appearing on the show.
According to an article written by Peter Hasson and posted Tuesday on the Daily Caller website, Abrams and McGrath “live and work in California -- far from the Maryland district Kathleen Matthews is seeking to represent in Congress.”
Nevertheless, they each gave $1,000 to Matthews’ campaign on Oct. 20, 2015, Federal Election Commission records show.
Less than two months later, Abrams’ movie premiered in theaters nationwide on Dec. 18. The Monday and Wednesday after the movie’s opening weekend, Matthews went out of his way to work The Force Awakens into his show.
As NewsBusters previously reported, the Dec. 21 program began with a black screen, and then "the title of the show appeared in the famous, yellow Star Wars-type font as two words (instead of one) as the title rapidly shrank to nothing on the black screen."
The text read:
It is a period of civil war in the Republican party. The future of American politics is at stake. Donald Trump has amassed a commanding lead in the fight for the REPUBLICAN NOMINATION…
Meanwhile, political forces are uniting in a last-ditch effort to defeat him before the primaries. This weekend, President Obama, Hillary Clinton, & the Republican establishment appear to have formed a coalition rejecting Trump’s appeal to the DARK SIDE of American politics...
A cackling Matthews then emerged and linked the new science-fantasy film to Hillary Clinton’s claim in the previous Saturday night’s debate that footage of Trump is being used in recruiting videos by ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria).
The MSNBC host noted that two days earlier, “the Democrats found a force of their own in ... Clinton’s too-direct attack on Trump. … By that, I mean she may have weakened a more accurate charge against Trump by trying to be too specific.”
“Later in the show,” Hasson stated, “the Star Wars references briefly returned when the title of the original 1977 film A New Hope appeared on-screen to accompany” a photo of the president as Matthews began a segment on Barack Obama’s “usually candid” interview with Steve Inskeep of National Public Radio.
During the discussion, Obama “accused Donald Trump of exploiting -- that’s his word -- the fear and anger felt by some people, especially who the president called blue-collar men caused by a changing economy and stagnating incomes.”
Matthews then started talking about Trump and Clinton while a picture of the two flashed onscreen under a Star Wars banner.
Two days later, Hasson noted, Matthews found another way to plug The Force Awakens in a show about politics.
As the liberal host led into a commercial break, he announced he would have “a little fun now” by talking about movies. He added: “And I’m not talking about the long line at Star Wars. This is the place for politics.”
Nevertheless, “as soon as the commercial break ended, Matthews went right back" to discussing the new film:
When it comes to Hollywood hits this year, Star Wars is the king of the galaxy. The latest episode in the space epic broke records last weekend. And in just days, it’s earned $700 million worldwide. Movies make -- $700 million is just beyond anything.
"Once he'd finished heaping praise on that movie," Hasson noted, Matthews pivoted to talk about movies he argued were political in nature. The Intern, for example, is a comedy starring Anne Hathaway, but Matthews claimed it was really a movie “about women and the plight they face just trying to make it in a tough world.”
“Despite facing calls to suspend his show due to his wife’s campaign,” Hasson added, “Matthews has remained silent.”
Apparently, the liberal host believes the force is with him regarding his guests' donations to his wife's political campaign. Anyone who connects the GOP front-runner with the villainous Darth Vader had sure better hope so.
