Just prior to Monday's debate, Chris Matthews used a very odd historical and anatomical analogy while talking about Hillary Clinton. Talking to Mike Pence, the Hardball host, essentially, wondered if Donald Trump will have a “kick him in the balls” attitude towards Clinton. Matthews blurted, “Bobby Kennedy back in '60 when his brother was about to debate Nixon in the great debate, he gave him a last-minute piece of advice. He said — I can't say it exactly to what he said — but he said, ‘Kick him in the you-know-where.’”
The journalist questioned, "Were you like that with Trump?" By way of explanation, on page 108 of Robert Kennedy: His Life, Evan Thomas detailed, “RFK eased the tension with some good-natured profanity. ‘Kick him in the balls,’ he said.” After posing the question, Matthews seemed to realize that Clinton is actually a woman. He interrupted Pence’s answer to set the record straight: “You can’t do it [kick her there] in this case.”
Matthews loves this historical tidbit. In 2012, while waiting for an Obama/Romney debate, he explained how to get tough: “Bobby Kennedy said to Jack Kennedy on the way out the door to debate Dick Nixon: ‘Kick him in the balls.’ You know? Sometimes it’s just something like that, something like that.”
A transcript of the question is below:
MSNBC
9/26/16
7:32CHRIS MATTHEWS: You know, Bobby Kennedy back in '60 when his brother was about to debate Nixon in the great debate, he gave him a last-minute bit of advice. He said — I can’t say it exactly to what he said— but he said, “Kick him in the you-know-where.” Um, were you like that with Trump? Did you give him that kind of sendoff?
MIKE PENCE: [Laughs] Well, I'll — I'll tell you that the thing about Donald Trump is that he’s been preparing for this debate —
MATTHEWS: You can’t do it in this case.
PENCE: Well, he's been prepared for this debate in his whole life. I mean, I think the reason why he was able to move through that 17-way Republican primary is because he's really given voice to the frustrations and the aspirations of millions of Americans. And I think tonight, Donald Trump is going to be himself. He's going to lay out that vision that he has, to have a stronger America at home and broad and I've got to tell you, I'm incredibly honored to be here, incredibly honored to be standing with him in this campaign.
