On Leno, Matthews Blames Cheney for Gulf Oil Spill, Slams 'Jerk' Limbaugh
On NBC's Tonight Show on Thursday, MSNBC host Chris Matthews appeared
as a guest and repeated his
recent implication of former Vice President Dick Cheney in the Gulf
of Mexico oil spill, asserting that Halliburton "gave him a $34 million
signing bonus to become Vice President of the United States" after he
was chosen as then-Governor George W. Bush's running mate in 2000.
After host Jay Leno asked "who's the lying scum here," Matthews repled:
"I don't know where to start. I mean, Halliburton. Sound familiar?
Cheney. Cheney was head of Halliburton. When he got to be Vice
President, when he was signed for Vice President, the oil company
gave him a $34 million signing bonus to become Vice President of the
United States."
He soon continued: "I just keep wondering: Why would an oil company
give a guy 34 million bucks when he becomes Vice President of the United
States? Well, one thing might be for, you know, goodwill. So what's
goodwill? Private meetings - the energy policy of the previous eight
years was written in the back room with Cheney and the oil companies.
And that's a fact. They don't have any regulation."
When Leno brought up Rush Limbaugh's recent suggestion that
environmentalists clean up the oil spill, Matthews responded by calling
Limbaugh a "jerk," and recounted his Hardball show's current gimmick
that challenges Republican officeholders to appear on the show
and voice disagreement with the conservative talk radio host on any
issue. After Matthews expressed some concerns that President Obama is
not acting quickly enough, the discussion turned to Limbaugh:
JAY LENO: Now, what do you think of this Rush Limbaugh saying that environmentalists should clean this up, it's their fault?
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Well, he would say that. He's a jerk. But Rush Limbaugh is totally pro-industry, totally pro-business, never would say, he's never said a word against offshore drilling in his entire life. Look it up. And for him to come out and blame the environmentalists, what a joke. You know, we have a thing on our show now. We're waiting for one Republican officeholder in the United States, on any issue, to announce they disagree with Rush Limbaugh on anything.
Matthews continued:
He's the boss. He tells them what they want to say. He's the leader of that party right now. And you know, he's a smart guy. He's a showman. And none of these guys want to take him on. We're hoping that somebody will have some guts.
Limbaugh had
criticized the Sierra Club for blocking oil companies from oil
exploration on land or closer to shore where such activity would be
safer and less expensive.
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Thursday, May
20, Tonight Show on NBC:
JAY LENO: All right, a lot going on in politics with this BP thing. This is the one-month anniversary. Where are we? Who's the lying scum here?
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Yeah, it's the scariest thing I've ever seen, and, you know, I don't know where to start. I mean, Halliburton. Sound familiar? Cheney. Cheney was head of Halliburton. When he got to be Vice President, when he was signed for Vice President, the oil company gave him a $34 million signing bonus to become Vice President of the United States.
LENO: Did they?
MATTHEWS: Yeah, that's what they gave him, a cash check for 34 million bucks to become Vice President. You think they had an interest in this guy? So the time he's Vice President of the United States, he began holding secret meetings with the oil companies, press wasn't allowed in, BP, private meetings with BP, all along the way an interesting little deal there going on. Then you find out that a lot of the so-called regulation of this industry is really BP people that have gotten jobs or Halliburton people who have gotten jobs in the government who are supposedly watching this. I did an investigative piece on the oil industry for the Washington Post back 37 years ago, and I found there were 220,000 miles of oil pipeline in this country, and they got one federal guy looking out for this. It's a joke. They do not regulate the oil industry.
CHELSEA HANDLER: Could you talk faster, please?
MATTHEWS: The oil industry is completely-
(AUDIENCE AND LENO LAUGH)
MATTHEWS: You know, my dear, you're beautiful, but if you concentrate, you can keep up.
(ALL LAUGH, AUDIENCE APPLAUSE)
LENO GETS UP AND HIGH FIVES MATTHEWS: Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Thank you! I should have done that five years ago! Yes! Thank you, Chris! Thank you! I'm not taking it anymore from her! Thank you, Chris!
HANDLER: I gave him that line backstage, by the way.
LENO: Let me ask you something now. Why is Cheney so quiet now?
MATTHEWS: Because he's got a lot to hide. I mean, all the money you get, I just keep wondering: Why would an oil company give a guy 34 million bucks when he becomes Vice President of the United States? Well, one thing might be for, you know, goodwill. So what's goodwill? Private meetings - the energy policy of the previous eight years was written in the back room with Cheney and the oil companies. And that's a fact. They don't have any regulation.
Now, here, my brother is a pipeline engineer for 33 years. He called me up the minute this thing hit and said, "You know what they're supposed to do when they dig a hole in the ground under the ocean under the Gulf of Mexico? Pack it with the drilling mud that they got when they were drilling. Pack it down in there. Dirt's heavier than water, right? It keeps it down. What did this company do? It packed the hole with seawater to save money. And look what happened. Now, what are they going to do? They've announced today they're going to pack it with mud. They're going to now do what they could have done a month ago. And these are the facts. It's not being done right. It scares the heck out of me.
That oil is destroying a good part of our world down there in the Gulf of Mexico. And look at the oil. We just had Ed Markey on tonight, the Congressman who's head of the (House) Energy Committee. They have turned out, it turns out they're not pumping out 5,000 barrels a day - not gallons, barrels a day - they're pumping out about 40,000 to 50,000 barrels a day coming out of that hole into that Gulf, and it's under the water. And there's a big danger here that the government's not telling us the truth about how much is down there, how much is all over the Gulf now. It's going around Florida. It's heading up the, it's going to head up to North Carolina. It's going to be horrendous. And I'm just wondering when we're going to just blow the whistle. I don't know what you have to do. The President scares me. He's been acting a little bit like, you know, Vatican observer here.
LENO: Yeah.
MATTHEWS: When is he going to actually do something? And I worry. I know he doesn't want to take ownership of it. I know the politics. Because the minute he says, "I'm in charge," then he's blamed. But somebody's going to have to take charge. It's in our interests, it's not in the oil company's interests. They're going to make a lot of money.
LENO: Now, what do you think of this Rush Limbaugh saying that environmentalists should clean this up, it's their fault?
MATTHEWS: Well, he would say that. He's a jerk. But Rush Limbaugh is totally pro-industry, totally pro-business, never would say, he's never said a word against offshore drilling in his entire life. Look it up. And for him to come out and blame the environmentalists, what a joke. You know, we have a thing on our show now. We're waiting for one Republican officeholder in the United States, on any issue, to announce they disagree with Rush Limbaugh on anything.
LENO: And not one has come forward?
MATTHEWS: He's the boss.
LENO: And not one has come forward?
MATTHEWS: He tells them what they want to say. He's the leader of that party right now. And you know, he's a smart guy. He's a showman. And none of these guys want to take him on. We're hoping that somebody will have some guts.
- Brad Wilmouth is a news analyst at the Media Research Center.
