Liberal MSNBC host Chris Matthews, who famously admitted to a "thrill [1]" that Barack Obama sent up his leg, on Friday praised the "girlish" and "playful" Hillary Clinton. The Hardball anchor appeared on Alec Baldwin's new Friday night show and conceded that he and the potential 2016 candidate "giggle" and "laugh" together.
Matthews was talking to Baldwin about gay rights and made one of his customary thought digressions. Even though the host allowed for a "tussle or two" over the years with Clinton, he lauded, "Although when I am with her. I just think she is great as a person. And we giggle, everything, laugh...I hope this doesn't offend anybody. There is a part of her that is very girlish. She's still very youthful." [MP3 audio here [2].]
Baldwin offered, "playful?" The Hardball anchor corrected, "Playful. That's right. That's safe."
The movie star wondered if Matthews was Catholic. "All the way," the journalist responded. Of course, this is the same host who said of his own faith [3]: "If you're really anti-gay, you become Catholic now."
On Friday, Matthews Praised Pope Francis as a left-wing Catholic hero:
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Francis is great. Because, you know, the encyclical of Louis XIII, on capitalism, talked about the short comings of capitalism, evils capitalism could bring. It talked about the need for child labor laws, the need for a -- a Social Security system, the need for an income tax, fair income, progressive tax, talked about all the things that came out of the new freedom, later on FDR. Way ahead of its time. And I think -- Dorothy Day, the Catholic worker, sort of liberal left wing Catholics, I think the focus on poverty that, that Francis has done has allowed a unity of thinking in the Catholic Church.
Catholic Matthews presumably meant Leo XIII, not Louis XIII. He was a king of France.
During Matthews's digression about civil rights and how Clinton was a "Goldwater girl," Matthews made a comparison to ObamaCare: "But in the case [of civil rights in the '60s] we had a liberal Supreme Court, they said interstate commerce clause. It's okay. You can move past the law, just Roberts approved Obamacare. You know, sometimes, you have to bend a little with the times."
A partial transcript is below:
10:10
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Hillary and I have been a tussle or two over the years. Although when I am with her. I just think she is great as a person. And we giggle, everything, laugh, she is very -- I hope this doesn't offend anybody. There is a part of her that is very girlish. She's still very youthful.
BALDWIN: Playful.
MATTHEWS: Playful. That's right. That's safe. Better put.
BALDWIN: Okay.
MATTHEWS: But, she and I, she was a Goldwater girl. I was for Goldwater, because the libertarian thing really appealed to you when you were young. The idea of this, guy says, let's get rid of government. Let's live our own lives like cowboys -- who didn't love that idea, you know?
BALDWIN: Like cowboys.
MATTHEWS: We were going to be free, free of big stuff, big parents. And you start to realize like my dad would say, well, we need Social Security because a lot of people, because of their inability, or whatever, or their habits don't save any money. So when they're 65, they're broke. You want them to be on welfare? Better encourage them, make them save all through their life by contributing to Social Security. Things like that. And civil rights -- if we had followed the Goldwater philosophy of making civil rights, requiring a constitutional amendment for public accommodations for not being able to, deny admission to your store or hotel or gas station men's room. And it never would have happened. So, I don't look to say, the ends justify the means. But in the case we had a liberal Supreme Court, they said interstate commerce clause. It's okay. You can move past the law, just Roberts approved Obamacare. You know, sometimes, you have to bend a little with the times.
...
BALDWIN: You are Catholic, correct?
MATTHEWS: All the way.
BALDWIN: I want to ask you, what do you think of the state of the church now, having a new pope now?
MATTHEWS: Francis is great. Because, you know, the encyclical of Louis XIII, on capitalism, talked about the short comings of capitalism, evils capitalism could bring. It talked about the need for child labor laws, the need for a -- a Social Security system, the need for an income tax, fair income, progressive tax, talked about all the things that came out of the new freedom, later on FDR. Way ahead of its time. And I think -- Dorothy Day, the Catholic worker, sort of liberal left wing Catholics, I think the focus on poverty that, that Francis has done has allowed a unity of thinking in the Catholic Church. Instead of arguing over -- not about where abortion is good or not. A Catholic knows abortion is not good thing. It's whether it should be legal or not, whether you should put somebody in jail for it, the doctor. That's the debate. It is not about abortion, it is what the Constitution should be. In a free country, where do you let decisions be made? It's not about the morality of abortion. Even Nancy Pelosi, who's very pro-choice will say, it's not about my religious beliefs.
— Scott Whitlock is Senior News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Scott Whitlock on Twitter. [4]