Yet again, MSNBC had to issue an on-air apology, after one of its left-wing guests on Wednesday made an outrageous statement. On Now With Alex Wagner, Ebony.com's senior editor Jamilah Lemieux responded to Senator Ted Cruz's statement about listening to country music after 9/11 by snarking, "Nothing says, let's go kill some Muslims like country music....I mean, really? That's absurd."
Michael Steele
By Ken Shepherd | March 19, 2015 | 9:10 PM EDT
On the March 19 edition of Hardball, Republican pundit Michael Steele and guest host Jonathan Capehart were strongly critical of claims by Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin that Republicans were holding up a confirmation vote on Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch because she's black.
By Mark Finkelstein | March 6, 2015 | 7:10 PM EST
Who said the Hillary email story is "a lot ado about nothing": a. Mika Brzezinski; b. Lawrence O'Donnell; or c. Michael Steele?
You'd be forgiven for choosing a. or b., but it turns out that Mika said that the way Hillary handled the matter "wasn't honest" and O'Donnell said that Hillary's email system was set up "to defy" the Freedom of Information Act. The correct answer is indeed c., Michael Steele. The former chairman of the Republican National Committee said it on today's Ed Show.
By Ken Shepherd | January 20, 2015 | 11:23 PM EST
The push to repeal ObamaCare is part of a Republican effort to "roll back history," thundered Chris Matthews at various points on Tuesday night during MSNBC coverage. The Hardball host first tried out the line on Republican pundit and former RNC chairman Michael Steele during the evening's edition of Hardball.
By Ken Shepherd | January 8, 2015 | 8:24 PM EST
Equipped with two liberal journalists and moderate Republican Michael Steele, MSNBC's Chris Matthews set about on his January 8 Hardball program to bash Sen. Lindsey Graham (R), former Amb. John Bolton, and talk-show host Rush Limbaugh for their criticism of President Obama's handling of the war on terrorism in light of the deadly terroristic shooting spree at the Paris headquarters of Charlie Hebdo yesterday.
By Scott Whitlock | December 30, 2014 | 12:17 PM EST
Is there a requirement for Republicans to host a show on MSNBC? Trash the GOP and you can anchor a program? Former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele on Monday lectured his party about bigotry, wondering, "Is the Republican Party finally ready to confront the issue of race in America?"
By Ken Shepherd | December 11, 2014 | 8:55 PM EST
Chris Matthews and gang at MSNBC have repeatedly attacked Tea Party conservatives in Congress, such as Ted Cruz, for attempts to use continuing resolution votes as leverage for conservative policy items. But now that liberal Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is the fly in the ointment, threatening to scuttle a spending bill agreed upon by Senate leadership and President Obama, the Hardball host is showering the Bay State Democrat with praise for a "revolutionary spirit" aimed at reinvigorating a despondent Democratic Party base.
By Ken Shepherd | October 28, 2014 | 7:42 PM EDT
After Michael Steele, the first African-American chairman of the Republican Party, left office, the RNC became singlemindedly devoted to blocking black people from the ballot box. That's the allegation that MSNBC's Chris Matthews made not once, but twice, to Steele's face, on the October 28 edition of Hardball.
Chris Matthews Attacks GOP's Resilient Congressional 'Bad Boys,' No Mention of Democrat Tax Cheat Rangel
By Ken Shepherd | September 16, 2014 | 9:04 PM EDT MSNBC's Chris Matthews turned a September 16 Politico story about three ne'er-do-well Republican congressmen who are likely to get reelected into an excuse for a Hardball segment to hand-wring about why voters this November are likely to return them handily to Congress. Nowhere in the story, however, did any perpetually ethically-challenged Democratic incumbent get held up as a counterpoint.
By Ken Shepherd | June 17, 2014 | 10:25 PM EDT
Hillary Clinton hit a "home run" with her performance in a live CNN "townhall"-style interview hosted by CNN's Christiane Amanpour, Chris Matthews enthused at the opening of his June 17 Hardball program.
The MSNBC host also seemed thrilled that Clinton may have taken his on-air coaching to heart regarding Benghazi questions one week ago. First his remarks at the top of the program (emphasis mine; MP3 audio clip here; video follows page break):
By Jeffrey Meyer | May 20, 2014 | 9:34 PM EDT
Tuesday, May 20 was primary day in six states across the county and MSNBC’s Chris Matthews was dubbed the point man for the network’s election night coverage. Unfortunately, the Hardball host couldn’t resist taking an inappropriate swipe at the five Republicans seeking the nomination for Senate in Georgia.
At the very end of a segment that aired at 7:27 p.m. Eastern, Matthews commented that the GOP primary will likely head to a runoff and “the reason they have these runoffs is to make sure no black guy ever won a nomination down there.” [See video below.]
By Tim Graham | May 11, 2014 | 9:18 AM EDT
Francis Wilkinson at Bloomberg View used to write on politics for Rolling Stone, and it shows. He went on the warpath against Sen. Tim Scott in a column titled “Do Republicans Lower the Bar for Blacks?”
This is not a serious question from the Democrats who wouldn’t call it “lowering the bar” to give race-baiting huckster Al Sharpton an hour each night on MSNBC to mangle the English language. He’s angry Sen. Scott has no challenger since he’s “so far to the right” that he’s upset the NAACP: