Chris Matthews Compares Ted Cruz to Cinematic Child Murderer 'Freddy Krueger'
Apparently, a lot of conservatives remind Chris Matthews of the scarred and burned child murderer from the Nightmare on Elm Street films. On Tuesday, the Hardball anchor linked Republican Ted Cruz to the cinematic killer. He opened the program by spewing, "Is Ted Cruz the Republican Freddy Krueger?" [MP3 audio here.]
According to Matthews, the Texas senator is a "grotesquerie that now presents itself as the righteous right arm of the Republican Party." Using Halloween imagery, the host attributed all of the GOP's woes to Cruz, slamming him as "this frightening Freddy Krueger that threatens this country with relentless shutdowns and credit defaults."
Matthews blamed the politician for Republican Ken Cuccinelli's poor showing in the Virginia gubernatorial election. Continuing the movie references, he said of Cuccinelli: " His brand, his name is Republican. All these weeks of chain-rattling have bequeathed a voter such a dread of the Grand Old Party that they now know it as a villain to be feared."
How unoriginal is Matthews? On June 8, 2009, the host discussed Dick Cheney and linked, "Well, he keeps coming back...Freddy Krueger comes back in every movie and this guy is back every day."
On May 12, 2011, the host spoke of a potential Newt Gingrich run for the presidency and snarled, "I cannot believe there are young Republicans idealists out there, young people with hope who want our country to be good and have good politics to want to resurrect this element of Freddy Krueger, Nightmare on Elm Streetpolitics."
So, who is the modern-day Freddy Krueger? Dick Cheney, Newt Gingrich or Ted Cruz? For all his obsession with the horror movie character, it was Matthews who in 2007 wore a Freddy-esque sweater on-air. (See picture above.)
A transcript of the October 29 show open is below:
5:01
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Is Ted Cruz the Republican Freddy Krueger?
...
MATTHEWS: Good evening. I'm Chris Matthews back in Washington. Let Me Start tonight with this grotesquerie that now presents itself as the righteous right arm of the Republican Party, this frightening Freddy Krueger that threatens this country with relentless shutdowns and credit defaults.We now have the ungodly news this week on Halloween on what the voters' reaction is to this specter. Two thirds of the voters of Virginia, which is voting next week, say they hold a stark, negative view of the Republican Party nationally. Worse yet, the same two thirds say they are voting for the Democratic candidate for governor of Virginia next week because they can't stand the Republican brand of the guy running against him. His brand, his name is Republican. All these weeks of chain-rattling have bequeathed a voter such a dread of the Grand Old Party that they now know it as a villain to be feared.
— Scott Whitlock is Senior News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Scott Whitlock on Twitter.
