Sexist Chris Matthews Apologizes to Sexist Hillary Clinton

Hardball TV host, Chris Matthews, bowed to Hillary Clinton by apologizing for his sexist (though correct) comments about her on the Joe Scarborough Morning Joe show on MSNBC.

Here's what he said about HRC that got him into hot water though let's face it, Chris has been swimming in the cesspool of political incorrectness for sometime now and he's not alone:

"The reason she's a U.S. Senator, the reason she's a candidate for president, the reason she may be a front-runner is her husband messed around. That's how she got to be senator from New York. We keep forgetting it. She didn't win there on her merit."

Ouch. Truth hurts, doesn't it, Hil?

His apology was a result of Media Matters CEO David Brock's letter to NBC News President Steve Capus complaining about Matthew's dissing Hillary.

Matthews started his Mia Culpa by saying:

"Some people I respect, politically concerned people like you and me, who care about this country, think I've been disrespectful to Hillary Clinton not as a candidate but as a woman. They point to something I said on MSNBC's Morning Joe the morning after the New Hampshire primary: that her election to the senate and all that's come since was a result of her toughness but also the sympathy for her because her husband embarrassed her by the conduct that led to his impeachment, because he, in the words I used, "messed around."

Matthews recounted how Hillary performed "strongly as First Lady," campaigned for other senators and then won the New York senate race to become "a respected member of the US Senate."

"Was it fair to say that Hillary Clinton, like any great politician, took advantage of a crisis to prove herself? Was her conduct in 1998 a key to starting her independent electoral career the following year? Yes. Was it fair to imply that Hillary's whole career depended on being a victim of an unfaithful husband? No. And that's what it sounded like I was saying and it hurt people I'd like to think normally like what I say, in fact, like me."

Newsflash: Chris Matthews still wants to win a popularity contest.

Hey, if you want to be liked, don't become a journalist. That's not in the job description.

Grow up, Chris and stand by your convictions - and as you were fond of saying - your heart.

You were right that Hillary made a career for herself because of her weird handling of her husband's unfaithfulness - though this couldn't have been a newsflash after his history - and yet, she has also continued to define herself - apart from her husband - but with him always standing very near by, especially during this presidential race.

No one denies that HRC is a hardworking, hard-charging, and ambitious politician and politician's wife for the last thirty-five years, just as no one can deny that Chris Matthews consistently displays his sexist stripes on his show.

Whenever an attractive female face appears on Hardball, Matthews falls all over himself fawning over them and I usually laugh because he appears so middle-age pathetic.

I guess Matthews HAD to apologize for telling the truth - at least, part of it - and we'll wait to see if Hillary Clinton pinches Matthew's cheek again the next time she sees him, as she did in New Hampshire.

Her pinching his check when he was trying to ask her serious political questions she didn't want to answer was her way of playing the 'female' card, being the clumsy coquette. In doing so, she was a lot more sexist and demeaning to Chris Matthews than he was to her with his statements on Joe's Show.

Hillary owes Matthews an apology too, but I wouldn't expect it anytime soon.

Comments

[jillmarienyc]

And now that you've seen the actual transcript, I have a couple of points. First, Hillary did not pinch his cheek. In fact, Matthews actually pinched her cheek. It is clear as day on the video and maybe you should go see it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTFEtlDpbKA. It was only in response to his demeaning move that she reciprocated and patted (not pinched) him on his cheek as well. Yet your article makes no mention of the fact that Matthews physically grabbed her face first. Did you just not watch the video or was that fact too inconvenient to your basic premise?
Secondly, she did not play the "female card" by pinching his cheek in order to avoid answering a serious question as you claim. The entire cheek incident occurred AFTER she had answered his question and as she was exiting the stage and approaching the crowd where Matthews was standing. You may disagree with the substance of her answer or the fact that she preferred to discuss her own Iraq plan as opposed to comparing it with Obama's plan, but you cannot accuse her of "being the clumsy coquette" to avoid "serious political questions." Now, that's demeaning.

[jillmarienyc]

Beverly, I think you might want to go back and look at the video because the one you've just described above does not in fact exist. This is the actual transcript:
MATTHEWS: In the final analysis, when people vote here on Tuesday and later in this season of voting, when they look at you, and they look at a Barack Obama, just the two of you, what‘s the essential difference between the two of you and how fast we‘re getting out of Iraq?
CLINTON: The essential difference is that I believe I will get our troops out as quickly and responsibly as is possible. You know...
MATTHEWS: And he won‘t be responsible?
CLINTON: I‘m just talking about what I will do, Chris.
MATTHEWS: Well, what‘s the difference between the two of you?
CLINTON: Well, you will have to draw the difference. But let me tell you...
MATTHEWS: You have to draw the difference.
CLINTON: No, let me tell you what I have done. I‘m not on your show.
I‘m answering your question.
MATTHEWS: Please come on the show.
CLINTON: Yes. Well, right.
(LAUGHTER)
MATTHEWS: Is that an answer?
CLINTON: You know, I—I don‘t know what to do with men who are obsessed with me. I—honestly, I have never understood it.
(APPLAUSE and LAUGHTER)
MATTHEWS: Obsessed. I‘m not obsessed.
(MATTHEWS PINCHES HILLARY'S CHEEK AND SHE PATS HIS CHEEK IN RETURN)
CLINTON: Aww, Christopher, baby.
(LAUGHTER)
MATTHEWS: It‘s not obsession. How you doing?
CLINTON: I‘m good. I‘m good.
(END VIDEO CLIP)

[dijo]

First let me begin by saying that I am a woman. In fact, I am an educated, successful woman. As much as I would love to see a woman POTUS, I don't think that woman should be Hillary. She says she is a feminist, yet has to have Bill to smooth over her gaffes. She runs on his record and won't release her own record to the public. She says that putting her in the white house is change enough...in other words, vote for me because I am a woman.
I want to vote for a woman because she has the qualifications to lead. I want to vote for a woman who does not call for help from her husband every time someone "picks on her." I will not vote for Hillary under any circumstances. She does the feminist movement a disservice. I see Obama as someone who stands stronger for women's rights than Hillary. He believes women should succeed because they are qualified, not because or their gender.

[Lon]

Mattthews comment was at best half right. It is true that without the Lewinski scandal she would not likely have been in a position to run for the Senate. But she made quite a skillful run even winning in republican upstate New York. So he is wrong to make it the scandal as opposed to merit. There is no other sense of merit relevant other than the skills she showed in winning.

The cheek pinching of a man who has been so relentlessly critical of her was hardly demeaning or offensive. The idea that she needs to apologize for that is silly. There is plenty I would like to see her apologize for (starting with a vote in 2002) but this complaint is silly. There is no reason that she should not be playful in such a situation. It is a nice contrast to Romney and his recent unpleasant spat with a reporter.

[2LaneIA]

Matthews was partly right. If Hillary's last name was Rodham, she would not be the Senator from New York. And I notice he doesn't cite any great moments from her Senate career. I'm sure there are some, but I just can't come up with any. The Woodstock Museum, maybe?

I find Matthews' drooling over men a lot more entertaining than his fawning over women. His swooning over Bush in a flight suit, his dreamy speculation that Fred Thompson wears English Leather--these are Man Love moments that make for great TV. Hillary pinching his cheek was so awkward for both of them that I averted my eyes.