Chris Matthews Clashes With Former Bush Official Tony Fratto: 'Here's The Idiot Republican Argument' (VIDEO)

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MSNBC's Chris Matthews clashed with former George W. Bush official Tony Fratto on Friday during the network's coverage of President Obama's address on the economy.

Prior to Obama's speech, MSNBC host Chris Jansing asked Matthews what he thought Obama needed to include in his speech.

"He's gotta say, 'We gotta keep shouldering the responsibility to keep the American economy roaring again, till everybody's back,'" Matthews said. "He's gotta say, 'We've done the right thing; we're going to do more of it. If Republican's would get out of the way, we could do a lot more.' He's gotta be aggressive. He's gotta be big time."

Though Jansing and Fratto tried to respond to Matthews, he continued. "You can't get re-elected with tactics," Matthews said of Obama. "He needs a strategy, which is, 'We're different from Republicans. They're basically free-marketers, who sit around and wait around for businsess to deliver this country from hell, and business has let us down.' He's gotta say it."

Fratto interjected, saying that the American public want the private sector to lead the economic recovery. "The private sector is sitting on 2 trillion dollars right now," Mathtews said, quickly interrupting. "It doesn't want to spend because it doesn't want this guy to look good. It doesn't want him re-elected."

"I don't think that's the reason," Fratto said. "The private sector will spend money if they think they're going to get a return on that money."

"Oh, okay, here's the idiot Republican argument," Matthews said. "If they just got a bigger tax cut than Bush gave them, more deregulation."

"That's not what I'm saying!" Fratto said. "Chris, I'm not talking about tax cuts. I'm not talking about regulation. I'm just talking about business as the world exists today. If you're a businessman out there and you've got money that you're holding, you're going to invest it if you think you're going to get a return on that investment."

Watch the moment in the segment above, which occurs at around 4 minutes.