A frothing Chris Matthews on Wednesday excoriated Rush Limbaugh as "evil" for spreading "lies" about global warming.
The Hardball host highlighted a new Rolling Stone article [1] by Al Gore that chides Barack Obama for not doing enough on climate change.
Matthews, however, chose to attack Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh: "These people are evil in what they're doing. I'm not saying their souls are evil, but what they're doing is really, really wrong and it's not the President." [MP3 audio here [2].]
The MSNBC host declared no room for debate on global warming, announcing, "But here is a fact on the table. Global warming, climate change, Rush Limbaugh says stuff that...is just not true. I never use the word lie, but it's appropriate here."
Piling on, Matthews accused Limbaugh of being disingenuous: "Rush Limbaugh is not a stupid person. Glenn Beck is not stupid. They're saying it on purpose."
After calling Limbaugh "evil," Matthews compared him to a raging inferno: "Churchill, my hero, said this once, 'I refuse to be impartial between the fire brigade and the fire.' The President is the fire brigade on this. He may not be the greatest fire brigade, but damn it, he's not the fire. Glenn Beck is. Rush Limbaugh is the fire."
"Evil" is a term Matthews likes to throw around. He previously used the word on Newt Gingrich [3] and mocked him for looking like "the devil."
[Thanks to MRC intern Alex Fitzsimmons for the video.]
A partial transcript of the segment can be found below:
06/22/11
5:18 PM EDT:
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Well, what do you think is the problem? The Republican Party are basically aligning themselves as anti-science, with some exceptions like Huntsman. They're willing to go out there and say they believe the world is about 5,000 years old. They basically go back to fundamentalist views about creationism and they really don't have any problem being anti-science. Isn't that really the problem? Not that Gore has a problem with Obama? Where's the problem with climate change? Isn't it that half the country is being sold nonsense?
5:23 EDT:
MATTHEWS: Have we ever had a time where one side is willing to just say something- We can argue about wars and there's always issues of values and measuring facts. But here is a fact on the table. Global warming, climate change, Rush Limbaugh says stuff that is just non- well, is just not true. I never use the word lie, but it's appropriate here.
JOAN WALSH: It is, it is.
MATTHEWS: People like, you know, Glenn Beck, I heard him months or years ago on the radio before he was on TV saying there's no climate change, playing, pandering to these business types, pandering to people who don't want to deal with reality. These people are evil in what they're doing. I'm not saying their souls are evil, but what they're doing is really, really wrong and it's not the President. It's this corrupt media on the right. You know, it's corrupt media on the right.
WALSH: Because- It's money. Well, serving the interest-
MATTHEWS: They're making good salaries telling people what they know is not true. Rush Limbaugh is not a stupid person. Glenn Beck is not stupid. They're saying it on purpose.
...
MATTHEWS: I would just say about our President, and he is our president, on my issues, he's always my President, on some of the big ones like climate change, race, things like that, wars. My belief is this: Churchill, my hero, said this once, I refuse to be impartial between the fire brigade and the fire. The President is the fire brigade on this. He may not be the greatest fire brigade, but damn it, he's not the fire. Glenn Beck is. Rush Limbaugh is the fire. The Chamber of Commerce, the Wall street Journal editorial page, they are the fire. Let's not forget it.
— Scott Whitlock is the senior news analyst for the Media Research Center. Click here [4] to follow him on Twitter.