Chris Matthews: Susan Rice 'Had It Correct After All'

February 3rd, 2014 11:40 PM

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews ranted on Monday that Susan Rice was right about Benghazi – even though according to the bipartisan report that he cited, Rice’s key assertion five days after the attacks was false.

“[T]he information is out there that Susan Rice told the truth. It was spontaneous attack on our facility in Benghazi,” Matthews insisted. “She got it right, Susan Rice. Why is the President not just blasting it back at the guy and saying O'Reilly, catch up?” he said of Bill O’Reilly, who pressed Obama on Benghazi in a Sunday evening Fox News interview. [Video below the break. Audio here.]

The bipartisan report stated that the "collective assessment of the intelligence community remains that the attacks 'were deliberate and organized,’" contrary to Rice’s assertion that the attacks were spontaneous and in response to a You Tube video.

Matthews saw it differently: "the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report released last month said that the attacks were likely to be put together in short order following protests in Cairo over an inflammatory video coming out of Los Angeles."

Guest Joy Reid mocked, "This was an interview about conspiracy theories held by many on the right, many of his viewers." According to Matthews, "Conservatives wanted to see the President forced to answer questions about right-wing obsessions." What's fits this definition? "Benghazi, the IRS, and, of course, health care reform."

On Friday, Matthews walled off another avenue for possible discussion. Talking about Obama's planned use of executive orders, he huffed, "I think it's a second term birtherism." Supposedly speaking for conservatives, he railed, "He was illegitimately elected. Now he is behaving illegitimately."

(H/T Real Clear Politics)