MSNBC has announced [1] that Chris Matthews, Barack Obama's most excitable fan, will be interviewing the President on Thursday's Hardball. Fawning over the liberal politician is incredibly common among journalists, but Matthews has taken it to a whole new level. According to the network host, Obama is a "perfect," "cool," brilliant figure who is comparable to Jesus, Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy.
The verbose Matthews has no filter when it comes to the Democrat, even once bizarrely blurting out that an Obama speech made him "forget [2]" that the commander in chief "was black." To prepare you for the likely love-fest MSNBC viewers will see on Thursday, here are the top ten most servile, sycophantic quotes from Matthews:
10. Just So "Cool" and "Great-Looking"
"He's come from a white family and a black family, and he's married to a black woman, and they're cool people. They are really cool. They are Jack and Jackie Kennedy when you see them together. They are cool. And they're great-looking, and they're cool and they're young, and they're — everything seems to be great....He may not win this thing because everybody in America is not going to be in a room with him somewhere....[But] if you're in [a room] with Obama, you feel the spirit. Moving."
— MSNBC's Chris Matthews talking about Barack Obama and his wife on NBC's Tonight Show, January 16, 2008. [MP3 audio here. [3]]
9. Gazing at Obama, The Thinker
"The President showed his analytical mind....He was at his best intellectually. I thought it was a great example of how his mind works....What a mind he has, and I love his ability to do it on television. I love to think with him."
— MSNBC’s Chris Matthews during live coverage following Obama’s February 9, 2009 press conference. [MP3 audio here [4].]
8. "We Girls Agree," Obama Is Still "Thrilling"
"When they were both walking to the helicopter the other day, Marine One... you could tell, like, they were experiencing the — I’m getting old here — the grooviness, the excitement of being this first American couple heading towards Marine One, which is cool in itself, heading from there to Air Force One, to a quick flight across the Atlantic, on your own plane, and to meet with the world leaders as, like, the centerpiece of the world....I’m saying it again, I’m getting a thrill....We agree, we girls agree. I don’t mind saying that. I’m excited. I’m thrilled."
— MSNBC’s Chris Matthews talking to Michelle Bernard of the Independent Women’s Forum and Washington Post writer Lois Romano about the Obamas’ trip to Europe, April 1, 2009 Hardball. [MP3 audio here [5].]
7. Barack Obama: The "Last Brother" to JFK
"[Ted Kennedy] just wanted to bring back what Bobby and Jack had given us. He wanted to be his brother’s brother. And then he turned that torch over last year to Barack Obama.... Amazing history. Barack is now the last brother. It’s history."
— MSNBC’s Chris Matthews on NBC’s Today, August 26, 2009. [See MP3 audio here [6].]
6. Barack "Lincoln" Spellbinds With His Speeches
"A speech worthy of Abraham Lincoln....What I personally view as the best speech ever given on race in this country....I think this is the kind of speech I think first graders should see, people in the last year of college should see before they go out in the world. This should be, to me, an American tract. Something that you just check in with, now and then, like reading Great Gatsby and Huckleberry Finn....One of the great speeches in American history."
— MSNBC's Chris Matthews talking about Obama's speech on race relations, March 18, 2008 Hardball. [See MP3 audio here [7].]
5. The "Thrill" Is Still Surging Up Chris's Leg
Clip of Barack Obama from 2008: "My family gave me love. They gave me an education. And most of all, they gave me hope. Hope, hope that in America, no dream is beyond our grasp if we reach for it, and fight for it, and work for it."
MSNBC's Chris Matthews: "I get the same thrill up my leg, all over me, every time I hear those words. I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, that's me. He's talking about my country and nobody does it better. Can President Obama stir us again and help his party keep power this November?"
— Setting up a segment on MSNBC's Hardball, September 7, 2010. [See MP3 audio here [8].]
4. Chris Matthews, Obama Press Secretary?
MSNBC’s Chris Matthews: "You know what? I want to do everything I can to make this thing work, this new presidency work, and I think that-"
Host Joe Scarborough: "Is that your job? You just talked about being a journalist."
Matthews: "Yeah, it is my job. My job is to help this country....This country needs a successful presidency more than anything right now."
— MSNBC’s Morning Joe, November 6, 2008. [See MP3 audio here [9].]
3. He's "Perfect"...
"This guy’s done everything right. He’s raised his family right. He’s fought his way all the way to the top of the Harvard Law Review, in a blind test becomes head of the Review, the top editor there. Everything he’s done is clean as a whistle. He’s never not only broken any law, he’s never done anything wrong. He’s the perfect father, the perfect husband, the perfect American. And all they do is trash the guy."
— MSNBC’s Chris Matthews talking about President Obama on Hardball, July 17, 2012. [See MP3 audio here [10].]
2. ...Just Like Jesus
Keith Olbermann: "For 42 minutes, not a sour note and spellbinding throughout in a way usually reserved for the creations of fiction. An extraordinary political statement. Almost a fully realized, tough, crisp, insistent speech in tone and in the sense of cutting through the clutter....I’d love to find something to criticize about it. You got anything?"
Chris Matthews: "No. You know, I’ve been criticized for saying he inspires me, and to hell with my critics!...You know, in the Bible they talk about Jesus serving the good wine last, I think the Democrats did the same."
— MSNBC live coverage of Obama’s Democratic convention speech, August 28, 2008 Hardball. [See MP3 audio here [11].]
1. If Your Thrill Lasts Longer Than Three Hours...
"I have to tell you, you know, it's part of reporting this case, this election, the feeling most people get when they hear Barack Obama's speech. My, I felt this thrill going up my leg. I mean, I don't have that too often."
— MSNBC's Chris Matthews during live coverage, February 12, 2008. [See MP3 audio here [12].]
— Scott Whitlock is Senior News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Scott Whitlock on Twitter. [13]