Fully Exploring the Chris Matthews “Obsession” With Hillary Clinton

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


chris_matthews_smirk.jpg One need only watch Hardball for maybe 30 or 40 seconds to know that Chris Matthews has some really odd issues with women that he projects onto Hillary Clinton. There was the discussion of her “cackle,” the claim that she was only elected to the Senate because her husband “messed around,” the fact that he pinched her cheek when they met face to face, and the probing of Hillary’s status as a “she devil.”

That’s why this comprehensive takedown of Matthews by David Brock is so welcome. Here’s a sample of Matthews’ statements, from that takedown (which I encourage you to read in full).

“Nurse Ratched”

“Doesn’t she know she looks like a fraud?”

“[L]et’s talk about the troops …Will they take the orders?”

“[S]he’s clapping, like she’s Chinese. I know the Chinese clap at each other, but what is she clapping at? I mean, it’s like one of these wind-up things.”

“[S]he was giving a campaign barn-burner speech, which is harder to give for a woman; it can grate on some men when they listen to it — fingernails on a blackboard, perhaps.”

There’s also the simple fact that Matthews doesn’t really say things. He declares them, in big, showy, unambiguous ways, and then goes on and on and on about them. In the days leading up to the New Hampshire primary, he announced Hillary’s campaign dead and asked every guest he had if she should just drop out of the race. After yesterday’s debate, he announced that Clinton’s performance was a “dramatic powerplay” (even though it was a relatively nondescript debate in which all candidates looked tired but intelligent and composed) and would not stop repeating his chosen storyline (even though no one else on his network seemed to see it the same way).

So here’s the summary. Chris Matthews: odious and sexist when slamming Hillary Clinton, just plain annoying at all other times.

THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

At least we hope they will, because that’s our approach to raising the $350,000 in online donations we need right now—during our high-stakes December fundraising push.

It’s the most important month of the year for our fundraising, with upward of 15 percent of our annual online total coming in during the final week—and there’s a lot to say about why Mother Jones’ journalism, and thus hitting that big number, matters tremendously right now.

But you told us fundraising is annoying—with the gimmicks, overwrought tone, manipulative language, and sheer volume of urgent URGENT URGENT!!! content we’re all bombarded with. It sure can be.

So we’re going to try making this as un-annoying as possible. In “Let the Facts Speak for Themselves” we give it our best shot, answering three questions that most any fundraising should try to speak to: Why us, why now, why does it matter?

The upshot? Mother Jones does journalism you don’t find elsewhere: in-depth, time-intensive, ahead-of-the-curve reporting on underreported beats. We operate on razor-thin margins in an unfathomably hard news business, and can’t afford to come up short on these online goals. And given everything, reporting like ours is vital right now.

If you can afford to part with a few bucks, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones with a much-needed year-end donation. And please do it now, while you’re thinking about it—with fewer people paying attention to the news like you are, we need everyone with us to get there.

payment methods

THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

At least we hope they will, because that’s our approach to raising the $350,000 in online donations we need right now—during our high-stakes December fundraising push.

It’s the most important month of the year for our fundraising, with upward of 15 percent of our annual online total coming in during the final week—and there’s a lot to say about why Mother Jones’ journalism, and thus hitting that big number, matters tremendously right now.

But you told us fundraising is annoying—with the gimmicks, overwrought tone, manipulative language, and sheer volume of urgent URGENT URGENT!!! content we’re all bombarded with. It sure can be.

So we’re going to try making this as un-annoying as possible. In “Let the Facts Speak for Themselves” we give it our best shot, answering three questions that most any fundraising should try to speak to: Why us, why now, why does it matter?

The upshot? Mother Jones does journalism you don’t find elsewhere: in-depth, time-intensive, ahead-of-the-curve reporting on underreported beats. We operate on razor-thin margins in an unfathomably hard news business, and can’t afford to come up short on these online goals. And given everything, reporting like ours is vital right now.

If you can afford to part with a few bucks, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones with a much-needed year-end donation. And please do it now, while you’re thinking about it—with fewer people paying attention to the news like you are, we need everyone with us to get there.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate