Bernie Sanders and me here pictured together in New York City, October 2016
Chris Matthews infamously compared the victory of Bernie Sanders in Nevada on Saturday to the Nazi takeover of France in 1940. This was not the first time that Matthews attacked Bernie Sanders with ridiculous comparisons. I wrote a blog entry in response to comments that he made, either earlier this month or late last month, when Matthews seemed to suggest that Bernie Sanders was the kind of socialist that might bring about execution squads in New York’s Central Park.
Well, Matthews apologized to Bernie Sanders on air. And it seemed more or less legitimate and heartfelt to me when watching.
Please feel free to watch the video yourself, as I made it available here. It is from The Young Turks Youtube channel.
That said, let me make one thing clear: while I appreciate his apology, and it is to his credit that he manned up, I do not for a moment believe that this apology – which admittedly must have been a bit difficult for him – was actually based on his own sense of sense of having overstepped. Frankly, it seems obvious that Matthews felt pressured into this apology, and made sure that it sounded as legitimate and sincere as possible. But let us not forget that Matthews only congratulated Bernie Sanders on his Nevada win (and not the other primary wins) after the pressure he received from not mere criticisms, but over the top, outlandish comparisons to horrific historical events. Suggesting that Bernie Sanders might bring about Communist-style execution squads, or likening his win in Nevada, and the clearly strong political momentum that it represents, to the Nazi Germany takeover of France in 1940, is just inexcusable and, frankly, unforgivable for someone who is allegedly a professional journalist. I understand having opinions, but what he said not only was not fair, or even slightly irresponsible.
No, it went far beyond that.
What he said was downright slanderous. Much like Chuck Todd’s equally stupid and frankly slanderous analogy of Bernie Sanders being like a “brownshirt brigade,” Matthews quite transparent insinuation that political wins by Bernie Sanders are somehow similar to the Nazi military takeover of Europe go well beyond any reasonable or rational bounds. This is the height of media hypocrisy, and these are perfect examples of why the media need to be approached with caution these days, and why they have gained such a reputation for being untrustworthy. After all, Matthews is supposedly considered a "liberal" and thus "open-minded" journalistic figure by some. Does this strike you are either liberal or open-minded? Does this even qualify as serious journalistic commentary? Comparing a popular candidate trying to win a primary for an election in (what for now remains) a democratic society?
I have no doubt that the petitions and backlash reached him via his bosses at MSNBC, and I am proud to have signed one of those petitions that called for him to be fired, frankly. There simply is no other way to curb, let alone get rid of, this kind of irresponsible, slanted, transparently biased “news” coverage.
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