MSNBC host and professional loud talker Chris Matthews was part of the team covering last night’s democratic debates. Matthews scored an interview with Senator Elizabeth Warren, where he used his time to repeatedly badger her over her Medicare for All policy. In watching the interview above, you can see Matthews demand to know whether or not taxes would go up to fund the program, while Warren calmly explained that medical costs would be lowered.
It’s an awkward interview to watch, as Warren makes the case again and again for M4A while Matthews talks over her and interrupts her over and over again. Warren remains cool and level-headed as Matthews gets more flustered and agitated. Clearly he was looking for a sound bite or a gotcha moment, which Warren was unwilling to give him. Many on social media took Matthews to task for his behavior:
Watch Elizabeth Warren stand up to Chris Matthews as he looms over her and interrupts her constantly.
She’s got a spine of steel. Mathews should be ashamed. pic.twitter.com/P8P8ER8mkO— Sean Kent (@seankent) July 31, 2019
It’s not as much about how Chris Matthews interrupts & talks down to Elizabeth Warren here…that happens all the time to smart, strong women-the point is how well Warren explains her points and how Matthews shrinks in comparison. That’s presidential. pic.twitter.com/uRauklQ3Kp
— Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) July 31, 2019
It was great to see Elizabeth Warren treat blowhard pundit Chris Matthews like a know-it-all freshman who might have been in one of her Harvard classes.
She pushed back and didn’t get cowed by his typical prime time mugging for the camera antics.
She played #hardball and won. pic.twitter.com/nrgBOk2Em7
— Russell Drew (@RussOnPolitics) July 31, 2019
I’ll tell you one thing: Chris Matthews taxes better go up. https://t.co/uBHtX9rGxJ
— Nomiki Konst🌹 (@NomikiKonst) July 31, 2019
But this isn’t an isolated incident: Matthews has always been aggressively sexist when it comes to female candidates. He came under fire after 2016 footage was released of him joking about slipping then-candidate Hillary Clinton “a Bill Cosby pill“.
This is hardly the first time Matthews has gone after Clinton, whom he accused of only winning her Senate seat because “her husband messed around” and saying that her criticism of a Bush-era policy made her “look more witchy“.
Matthews has also been called out for running a sexist and demeaning newsroom, and has made gross comments about nearly every woman in the political sphere, from Sally Yates to Melania Trump.
Matthews’ behavior reminds me of an excellent segment on Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, where Bee skewers “shitty media men” like Charlie Rose and Matt Lauer for harassing and demeaning women. But their behavior isn’t limited to these gross incidents.
These men, like Matthews, make their sexism a part of the national conversation, using their platform to damage a woman’s chances of being elected. Look at how these men gave plenty of airtime to Clinton’s emails while avoiding the host of scandals plaguing Donald Trump.
As long as men like Matthews get to steer the news coverage of female candidates, women running for office will always be at a disadvantage. It’s time for Matthews to retire and take his dated Mad Men ideas about women with him.
(via MSNBC, image: MSNBC)
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