MSNBC’s Chris Matthews on Tuesday night shocked his liberal viewers by declaring that the “eloquent,” “excellent” Mike Pence “won” the vice presidential debate over a “desperate” Tim Kaine. The Hardball host did not hold back as he bashed, “Kaine was a little bit, I don't know what the right word is, a little desperate there, jumping in all the time, always trying to get his points. He didn't wait his turn.”
In comparison, he rhapsodized over Pence: “ thought that Mike Pence did all the things right that Donald Trump did wrong. His body language was excellent. He was very good on reaction. He looked like a grown-up every time.” The journalist cheered, “I thought he was very effective at being a conservative... He was pro-life. He was rather eloquent at the end. You may not agree with him, but he was eloquent.”
Matthews flat-out gave the victory to the Republican, saying, “I think the winner tonight will end up being — in terms of the debate and what they were trying to accomplish, Pence, because Pence was solid, he looked like he had his head screwed on.”
This may undermine efforts by undermine attempts to prop up Kaine’s performance. If someone as left-wing as Chris Matthews thinks Pence won, it may be hard to spin otherwise.
This probably won’t make Matthews’s colleague Rachel Maddow happy. She referred to Pence as a “hard-line,” “hard-core, religious right guy.”
A transcript is below:
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MSNBC post-debate coverage
10/4/16
10:39CHRIS MATTHEWS: I thought it was very illuminating. I thought that Mike Pence did all the things right that Donald Trump did wrong. His body language was excellent. He was very good on reaction. He looked like a grown-up every time. Whatever his words were, of course he was playing with a couple deuces against a guy with a full house. So, it was very difficult for him. I mean, he had to defend Donald Trump. He came across as a grown-up, strong. I thought he was very effective at being a conservative. What I really think he accomplished tonight is he made himself probably the front-runner for the Republican nomination in 2020. He hit all the bases on the conservative side. He was pro-life. He was rather eloquent on it at the end. You may not agree with him, but he was eloquent.
I also thought he was very good on the policing issue for the conservative side, very strong against illegal immigration on the conservative side. So, He really didn't work the suburbs for trump. He worked his right-wing flank. I thought he was very effective at securing Trump's right- wing flank. And I think that may be important in the numbers in the next couple days, to stop this hemorrhaging of Trump’s numbers on the right. To hold them on the right and hold them on the conservative side. On the other hand, I thought at times, and I like the guy, Kaine was a little bit, I don’t know what the right word is, a little desperate there, jumping in all the time, always trying to get his points. He didn't wait his turn. Obviously, if he had just waited his turn, the back and forth nature of this event he would have had his opportunity.
I don't know why he kept interrupting. Because with two people debating, the other guy gets the chance to speak. He couldn’t the wait for that. I think that hurt him. He hit all the points of the erogenous zones of the Democratic coalition. He hit the minorities. He hit immigrants, illegal immigrants, whatever, he hit everybody. He hit Israel a couple times, he went for Israel. That's a good one. What he did was hit all the bases of the Democratic Party coalition, made them feel that someone's looking out for them, overall, I think the winner tonight will end up being — in terms of the debate and what they were trying to accomplish, Pence, because Pence was solid, he looked like he had his head screwed on, that's going to look very important for Trump who doesn't look like he has his head screwed on.
