Ronan Farrow, considered the “boy wonder” of cable hosts by MSNBC executives, interviewed his colleague Chris Matthews on June 11 over the stunning primary defeat of Eric Cantor.
Farrow was shocked that the winner David Brat had dared to campaign among the Tea Party rabble, being the professor he is: “Is it rare to see that kind of brazen intellectualism, particularly in populist candidates like this?” Translation: how did he win among knuckle-dragging Virginia racists with that spiel?
In
response, Matthews unleashed something almost as unexpected as the
Cantor defeat. He came to the Tea Party’s defense. “I don't think you
can assume that the liberals are smarter than the conservative
professors. I think that’s crazy talk,” he said.
Matthews then doubled down.
“[Brat] can handle any debate on this program or my program. So this
looking down our noses at Tea Party people has got to stop. They have a
message, they're as American as any liberal is, and they're really angry
of the failure of the system.”
What makes this so incredibly bizarre is that Matthews has been routinely, savagely assaulting the Tea Party for years. We cannot think of anyone in the press more vituperative than this man. It is another day in the office when Matthews sneers/dismisses/insults Tea Party conservatives, usually in personal terms, regularly with cheap shots.
For example, just two days before the Brat remarks, he condemned Sen. Ted Cruz for being in the “hate wing” of the Texas GOP and dismissed Joni Ernst, the conservative U.S. Senate contender from Iowa, as a “hog castrator.”
In April, he slammed people questioning the official Obamacare enrollment numbers – including the question about how many “enrolled” people hadn’t yet paid a premium. “What can you say about these guys besides they are health care enrollment truthers right now," Matthews insisted. "It's a new firm of birtherism.”