Gaffes

Biden Mole at Work? Official Hillary Store Offers 'Chillary Clinton' Beer Koozie
By Mark Finkelstein | August 23, 2015 | 7:13 AM EDT

What's next: a "Hillary cloth--perfect for wiping servers?" Seriously, has fatalistic, gallows humor set in at Hillary's campaign? Or has her staff perhaps been infiltrated by moles from competing campaigns trying to sabotage her? Hillary's official campaign store sent out an email this morning featuring beer koozies. The first reads "More Like Chillary Clinton.  AMIRITE?" The second shows the Hillary 'H' logo all frosted over. Think of it: her scandals aside, Hillary suffers from a public image of a chilly, frosty personality. But rather than trying to warm Hillary up, her campaign reinforces the negative image with frosty, Chillary koozies?  Really?

Perhaps even more telling and ominous: the email's subject line is "Before They're Gone." Double-entendre, anyone? Come to think of it, those items could be a good investment. Imagine how much more that "Chillary" koozie will bring on eBay if Hillary says sayonara before the first primary.  

Texas Dem Legislator Blames 'Mr. Tesla' for Failure of Direct-Sales Law for Electric Cars
By Ken Shepherd | May 21, 2015 | 7:06 PM EDT

Imagine, if you will, that a conservative Republican legislator in Texas who played a role in preventing direct-to-consumer sales of Tesla electric automobiles in the Lone Star State was on the record telling the media that he blamed "Mr. Tesla" for failing to do his part to make nice with the powerful car dealership lobby in Texas. But alas, it was a Democratic state legislator, Rep. Senfronia Thompson, who made the relevant remarks. 

Derp! Chris Matthews Thinks Blockbuster Video Stores Are Still Around
By Ken Shepherd | April 16, 2015 | 8:13 PM EDT

In some ways, the gaffetastic Chris Matthews is the Joe Biden of cable news. Tonight on his Hardball program, the liberal pundit seemed to think that Blockbuster video stores are a fairly ubiquitous thing in suburban and small-town America. In point of fact, Blockbuster closed up shop entirely in January of 2014, felled by the ease and convenience of cable TV video-on-demand and video-streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime.

NBC Declares Scott Walker Made 'First Major Blunder' of 2016 Race at CPAC
By Kyle Drennen | February 27, 2015 | 12:09 PM EST

Desperate to tear down 2016 Republican frontrunner Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, co-host Matt Lauer led off Friday's NBC Today by proclaiming: "Governor's gaffe?...Presidential hopeful Scott Walker under fire for saying his experience with union protesters has prepared him to take on ISIS. Is it the first major blunder of the presidential race?"

CNN's Brooke Baldwin Confuses Elijah Cummings with John Lewis
By Ken Shepherd | December 11, 2014 | 4:27 PM EST

Covering a live congressional staffer walk-out to protest the decisions by grand juries in Missouri and New York to fail to indict police officers in the Michael Brown and Eric Garner fatalities, CNN's Brooke Baldwin mistook Maryland Democratic Congressman Elijah Cummings for Rep. John Lewis (D-Georgia). The anchor corrected herself moments later, with the aid of guest and Democratic strategist Donna Brazile.

Biden Tossing In Towel on Tomorrow's Elections?
By Mark Finkelstein | November 3, 2014 | 5:45 AM EST

C'mon man! That's no way for a plucky VP like you to talk just two days before the elections!  As a loyal member of the DNC email list, last night I received a message from Joe Biden that sounded decidedly down in the mouth; frankly fatalistic.

Here's how Good Ol' Joe opened [emphasis added]: "No matter what happens on Tuesday, I'm proud of you, Mark."  "No matter what happens?" Not exactly a bold prediction of victory! Particularly when it was followed by this: "You've helped to keep us in this campaign." Just kept us in it?  Don't you remember when Hillary threw her hat in the ring for 2008?  She boldly declared that she was "in to win!"  Now that's confidence!

NBC Uses Bush Photo to Distract From Obama's 'Latte Salute' Gaffe
By Kyle Drennen | September 24, 2014 | 4:33 PM EDT

Running defense for Barack Obama on Wednesday's NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer touted "some of the President's defenders" pushing back against a video of the commander-in-chief sloppily saluting Marines while holding a coffee cup by "circulating this photo of George W. Bush during his presidency...saluting service members while holding his dog, Barney." [Listen to the audio]

Lauer noted that despite Obama gaffe going viral on social media and "sarcastically being called the 'latte salute,'" it "didn't take long for that photo [of Bush] to come out as well."

MSNBC: Joe Biden's Offensive Gaffes Make Him 'Real' and 'Authentic'
By Kyle Drennen | September 18, 2014 | 4:53 PM EDT

During a segment on Thursday's Andrea Mitchell Reports on MSNBC, fill-in host Kristen Welker noted Joe Biden making a string of gaffes – which included using an anti-Semitic slur – during a trip to Iowa, but then she and her guests proceeded to excuse his offensive remarks as merely being part of his charm. [Listen to the audio]

The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza observed: "Joe Biden is probably the most 'real,' I suppose, politician you have these days. He does say what's on his mind. Unfortunately, what's on his mind often gets him in trouble."

Chris Matthews's Galactic Gaffe: Darth Vader 'Cut Off His Own Son's Arm'; Sorry, Tingles, It Was Just His Hand
By Ken Shepherd | July 24, 2014 | 8:35 PM EDT

Hardball host Chris Matthews is quite the cinemaphile, frequently working movie references into his banter on the MSNBC program. So it was rather surprising when the MSNBC anchor made a whopper of a gaffe on his July 24 program regarding an iconic moment in the climactic lightsaber duel in the middle chapter of the original Star Wars trilogy, The Empire Strikes Back. It seems Matthews remembers Luke Skywalker losing the duel when Darth Vader cut of his arm, not merely his right hand.

The botched movie reference was made by Matthews as he relayed how the fictional villain has a higher favorability rating (58 percent) than any real-life 2016 presidential prospect, including Hillary Clinton (55 percent). Here's the relevant transcript (video follows page break):

WATCH: Chris Matthews Has Al Sharpton-Like Teleprompter Flub
By Ken Shepherd | July 16, 2014 | 9:00 PM EDT

During a segment attacking conservative Republicans who have been critical of the Obama administration's handling of the border crisis, MSNBC's Chris Matthews had an amusing Al Sharpton-like teleprompter moment, repeatedly trying, and failing, to pronounce "dengue fever." It's curious that Matthews, who once served in the Peace Corps in Swaziland, seems unfamiliar with the term, given how prevalent the disease is in many sub-Saharan African countries -- although not Swaziland itself.

The flub occurred as Matthews read for his guests -- California Democratic Reps. Loretta Sanchez and Juan Vargas -- a portion of a letter that Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) sent to the Atlanta-based federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about his "concerns that the diseases carried by these children may begin to spread too rapidly to control." Watch the clip below the page break.

NBC Notices Dem Who 'Managed to Offend Democrats, Republicans, Gays, and Southerners All At Once'
By Kyle Drennen | June 20, 2014 | 3:54 PM EDT

After all three broadcast networks initially ignored offensive comments from former Democratic Montana Governor and possible 2016 presidential candidate Brian Schweitzer claiming outgoing Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor set off his "gaydar," on Friday, NBC's Today took notice of gaffe, with correspondent Peter Alexander declaring: "...a tough-talking Montana Democrat known for being unscripted is apologizing after he managed to offend Democrats, Republicans, gays, and southerners all at once." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

Alexander described how Cantor "became the target of an attack that was both ugly and unfounded," with Schweitzer "slinging the mud." Alexander proceeded to quote the "shoot-from-the-lip" former governor's rambling comments about Cantor: "I'm fine with gay people, that's all right – but my gaydar is 60-70 percent. But he's not, I think..."

B-Roll Blunder: MSNBC Confuses Rep. Pete Sessions with Sen. Jeff Sessions
By Ken Shepherd | June 11, 2014 | 9:15 PM EDT

Do MSNBC producers think all conservative Republican legislators look alike? 

In a segment featuring the Washington Post's Robert Costa handicapping the forthcoming campaign by various House Republicans to fill outgoing Majority Leader Eric Cantor's leadership post, producers aired B-roll of Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) in lieu of Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas).