VIDEO: Chris Matthews “Forgot” Obama “Was Black Tonight For An Hour”
Chris Matthews has put his foot in his mouth before on live television, and following the State of the Union, he did it again.
“I forgot he was black tonight for an hour,” Matthews said of President Barack Obama’s speech before a joint session of Congress and to millions of Americans.
That single line quickly bounced around Twitter and the blogosphere, along with widespread criticism of Matthews on the left, right and in between.
“The tingle appears to be back for Chris Matthews,” wrote Noel Sheppard on NewsBusters. And the headline on Wonkette: “Chris Matthews Has An Apology On The Way.”
The Matthews’ comment was met immediately on Twitter with both confusion and contempt.
The New Republic’s Michael Crowley wrote “Huh?,” with the the Huffington Post’s Jason Linkins asking, “W to the F?”
Meanwhile, The American Prospect’s Adam Serwer offered a terse response to the Matthews line: “F–. You. The Washington Independent’s Spencer Ackerman wrote that the MSNBC host should “get off the air.” And from the The Joshua Blog: “He needs to be gone from @MSNBC for good. Enough already.”
Matthews’ line about Obama’s skin color was part of a longer comment about the presidency and race, that’s below. (MSNBC had no immediate comment).
From Our Friends:
Chris Matthews: “he is post-racial, by all appearances. I forgot he was black tonight for an hour. You know, he’s gone a long way to become a leader of this country, and past so much history, in just a year or two. I mean, it’s something we don’t even think about. I was watching, I said, wait a minute, he’s an African American guy in front of a bunch of other white people. And here he is president of the United States and we’ve completely forgotten that tonight — completely forgotten it. I think it was in the scope of his discussion. It was so broad-ranging, so in tune with so many problems, of aspects, and aspects of American life that you don’t think in terms of the old tribalism, the old ethnicity. It was astounding in that regard. A very subtle fact. It’s so hard to talk about. Maybe I shouldn’t talk about it, but I am. I thought it was profound that way.”
Speaking with fellow MSNBCers Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann, Matthews gushed, “You know, I was trying to think about who he was tonight, and it’s interesting: He is post-racial by all appearances.”
He then amazingly added, “You know, I forgot he was black tonight for an hour”
VIDEO:
