Chris Matthews Admits: "I'm Partial" For Barack Obama, "You Got Me!"

Stop 1 on Chris Matthews' Whirlwind Tour of LA — which will bring him to his reunion with Ellen DeGeneres — was the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno." Tuesday night Matthews sat down with Leno to discuss the Obama presidency, the possibility of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, the bailout of the auto industry,

Matthews admitted to Leno that he has been, and still is, "partial" to Barack Obama.

"Well, I'm partial," he said. "You got me. You nailed me! I've been watching politics since I was a kid and all the way back to the days of Kennedy and Nixon and I've never seen anything like Barack Obama. No one's ever been as inspiring."

Matthews said that Obama's run was "stunning to [him] from the time it started" and described Obama as "a remarkable political reality."

When Leno brought up the topic of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, Matthews laughed, saying, "Come on, you're setting me up!" Matthews is a frequent Clinton-antagonist who was recently overheard on a train trashing her as a Cabinet pick.

The always-excited "Hardball" host may was also passionate about the auto industry bailout. Matthews told Leno, a well-known car enthusiast, that if the CEOs of the "Big Three" auto companies are going to become government employees through a bailout, they ought to accept government salaries.

"These auto company CEOs have not had a good year, or a good decade, and they're still making hundreds of millions of dollars," Matthews said. "I think we ought to say, if we're going to be in a bailout situation...stop getting paid like capitalists. You didn't do it," he added, suggesting a $400,000/year cap on their salaries (equivalent to what the President makes).

Watch:

Comments

[scared4ALL]

A breath of fresh air. Chris is real and many love him.

[malinvr]

I love Chris Matthews just as he is .You either take him or leave him.Fox News is very biased and no one is questioning their 'journalistic integrity". Chris is very sincere and he wears his heart on his sleeves like it or not.

[ObamaEdwards]

The problem with Matthews is that he changes his mind on a dime. He will love something, then condemn it because suddenly it isn't like it was when he was a kid. He's nutty. We like him, but he gets tiresome at times. His digressions take up most of the show, and hog a lot of time he could allow for his guests to actually answer his long-winded questions.

[ESerafina42]

Yeah, remember how he gushed like a teenage girl about Dubya's aircraft carrier stunt? Chris, please spare us your man-crushes and get some help on your irrational hatred of Hillary Clinton.

[markstl3828]

He is a nutjob. Does anyone even watch his pathetic excuse of a show ? It is so obvious that he is biased. I didn't need an article telling me that. Here's to wishing that the new president does well, we need all the help we can get.

[wagthedog1001]

Really? You opened my eyes.

[iBlog4Fun]

How insightful
Chris Matthews, on MSNBC, bias?

New to cable news?

[dahlenu]

Please don't use Hulu videos. They are blocked outside the U.S.

[lizr]

what does this mean/

[BryantG]

It means that if you access Huffpo from outside of the US the above video (an and any other tha comes from the Hulu.com service) cannot be viewed. It probably has something to do with intellectual property rights. Hulu is gaining in popularity so I suspect that this issue will resolved at some point.

[Kalitipo]

Big-up Chris...the whole faux noise is bias..Chris knows what's best and he's only ...i double dare all the right wing nuts to venture into hardball country to get their @ ss handed to them..long live Chris

[Pete2069]

One thing you can never say about Matthews , you can not smack him down on facts about issues...
Matthews is knowledgeable on most subjects and hit person very hard when they make bad statements or lies.

[RocketmanBob]

He deploys them selectively, to support whatever point he is trying to push. And if you call him on it, he changes the subject...

Intellectually dishonest, hyper-partisan, and posesses NO journalistic ethic or integrity...

[whit4brains]

I really enjoy Matthews and watch him pretty regularly. He isn't claiming on his show to be "fair and balanced" or in the "no spin zone" or anything. Plus he gives equal time to both sides during interviews and will call people out if they are spewing obvious BS.

[RocketmanBob]

yes, but what you fail to recognize is that he doesn't always have representatives of BOTH points of view; he gives equal talking time, but not ideological time...

Also, he's famously hypocritical, but prefers to call others on that same vice...

Mind.boggling.indeed...

[TuesdayMorning]

I love the realness of Matthews, besides so what if that's what he thinks. It was a good interview.

[VikingQuest]

I guess the media has officially died this election season . . .

[veronicallous]

Died? The media has ALWAYS been biased, even when it claimed to be objective. Objectivity is an impossible ideal cooked up by capitalists who thought they could make more bank by attracting a broader audience. It would be best for citizens if the news were to return to its partisan roots. At least that way we'll know where people really stand.

[wagthedog1001]

The media. Meaning... FOX? or what? Get off of this ruse.

[pthesmith]

well said, veronicallous

[lolcopter]

It would be nice if people watched cable news networks to get breaking stories and facts instead of reinforcing previously held opinions and viewpoints.

[Wolf Larsen]

Obama offers the greatest sense of optimism that I have ever felt. Oh....it will be hard work and the deck is stacked against him....but he has those intangibles that great leaders possess. He is honest. He is not shilling for Halliburton or the Saudi leaders. He is not a political hack that chooses appointees based on their party affiliation......in short he is everything the Bush Administration isn't.....and that is a very good thing.....

[hassia]

could you please not use Hulu I am sick and tired of seeing does not work outside The Us. Thank you

[HarryParatestis]

This is news!!! Discovering this is so exciting, I feel a tingle running up my leg, just like when I found out who was buried in Grant's Tomb.

[Indie2008]

The difference that I see between Chris's "bias" and what you see on some other networks, is that he showed his passion for Obama, bud did not try to demonize his opponent.

[VikingQuest]

If he wants to take that stance, he should disclose it before every show.

[RocketmanBob]

I beg your pardon; he treated Hillary in a very shabby fashion during the primaries...

[rabiddog6708]

Chris Matthews is a pundit not a journalist ala Bob Woodward. There's no reason he should have to hide his political opinions; the man hosts a political debate show for cryin'-out-loud.

[VikingQuest]

MSNBC also had him anchoring many programs.

Therefore MSNBC management are complete fools or they are just as much of a wing of the DNC as Fox is of the RNC.

Sad day that legit media is out the window.

[DANISMOM]

until obama came into our lives i always viewed chris matthews as an independent and everyone was at his mercy. obama turned matthews from journalist into pundit. now that his views are known he cannot be considered a true journalist. i enjoy his program but he's preaching to the choir here.