Chris Matthews Trashes Cruz and Lee for Their 'White' 'Minority' Base
Liberal cable anchor Chris Matthews on Thursday sneered at conservatives Mike Lee and Ted Cruz, trashing their "white" "minority" base. The Hardball host also defined a patriot as someone who "believes in government." According to Matthews, conservative Republicans in the House and Senate don't meet this standard. The host fumed, "They all run around as if 'we got all of these white people out here,' this little minority of the country. 'But they're better Americans than the rest and we represent them.'" Perhaps the journalist is unaware that Cruz is multi-ethnic and not "white." [MP3 audio here.]
Matthews insisted that Americans should be asking these questions in the wake of the government shutdown: "Does the majority will still matter? There's the fact that he [Obama] is President, is it paramount?"The anchor lectured that it is "highly inconsistent" for conservatives to call themselves patriots since they have "disrespect for institutions." He then went on to offer a new definition of patriotism.
According to Matthews, "The patriot is the person who accepts the law. The patriot is the person who believes in compromise, who believes in government." Does the Hardball host accept the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling? Many liberals do not.
Attacking the patriotism of fellow Americans, something that liberals used to be against, has become very common on MSNBC. On October 7, host Ed Schultz declared John Boehner guilty of "treason."
On October 15, MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts sneered at a GOP congresswoman: "When it comes to ObamaCare, do you hate ObamaCare more than you love your country?"
A partial transcript of the October 17 MSNBC Live segment is below:
11:30
CHRIS MATTHEWS: When you listen to Ted Cruz, he says he speaks for the American people, even though the numbers show he's a minority. You know why? They believe that they're better Americans. When they see that the country voted for Obama they say, "oh that was just minorities. That was just the liberals in the big cities." They're not Americans. Americans' votes should count for more. So, they never gave him a honeymoon. They never respected him being president. A bunch of them still think he's an illegal immigrant because he's not one of them or one of us as they call themselves. And this sense of moral indignation -- You can see it on the face of Ted Cruz. Every time he speaks, he's got that hurt look. "Somehow we've been wronged. We're somehow the true Americans and We have got to take back our government." From whom? Who are the people running the U.S. government right now? They don't want to admit he's legal. They don't want to admit the Americans are running this government.
...
MATTHEWS: This country is in the middle politically divided by two sides and the only way we'll resolve things is getting together and compromising and those people think compromise means dealing with the enemy. Dealing with the enemy. And you know who the enemy is according to Mike Lee and all of the other people that hang around Cruz? It's the people who vote for Obama. They're the enemy.
THOMAS ROBERTS: Well, if we look at what the President laid down in terms of what he can achieve in the rest of his time at the White House, we see him talking about a grand bargain, potentially. Advocates for immigration reform are probably solidified in seeing the President raise their flag today and also the farm bill which I think might have caught people by surprise.
MATTHEWS: Well, these are all parts – That's his agenda, but I think the more – I'm sorry to jump away from your question because I think he has his own legitimate agenda, immigration reform. The focus the people ought to put right now is do the majority have a right to run this country. Does the majority will still matter? There's the fact that he is President. Is it paramount? Is that to be respected? You look at Cruz's face. He doesn't respect the election of President Obama, the reelection of President Obama. You look at Mike Lee. They all run around as if we got all of these white people out this little minority of the country. But they're better Americans than the rest and we represent them.
...
MATTHEWS: Disrespect for institutions, for the election of a president, for the American voter who elected him is a real problem and why they can call themselves patriots as they do that is highly inconsistent. The patriot is the person who accepts the law. The patriot is the person who believes in compromise, who believes in government.
— Scott Whitlock is Senior News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Scott Whitlock on Twitter.
