On the July 26 episode of Charlie Rose’s podcast, former MSNBC host Chris Matthews seemed to think President Donald Trump was a one-man FCC, roaming the country canceling TV shows with a glare and a golf swing.
Matthews floated the idea, without offering proof, that Trump had cowed television networks into submission, supposedly canceling news segments and late-night shows out of sheer intimidation, even referring to the President as a “bully.”
In his telling, networks weren’t making editorial choices so much as succumbing to psychic intimidation. “Fear and weakness,” Matthews declared. “Fear—fear of God, fear of Trump. It’s just fear.”
Soon after, the conversation shifted to the George Stephanopoulos and 60 Minutes law suit sagas. Rose asked whether those cases were “related,” and Matthews simply replied: “A lot of people think so.” He didn’t specify who those people might be, but the stock answer remained the same: “Fear of Trump.”
It’s theatrical, if not a little self-serving, considering Matthew’s own show was canned back in 2020. Matthews painted a picture of journalists, editors, producers paralyzed by a sitting U.S. president, which is as absurd as it is inaccurate.
Matthews then aligns himself with the scrappy, argumentative “old school” by-gone era of TV news. “Nobody argues anymore. None,” he lamented. “The favorite answer is always, I agree with you completely … Whatever you say has the question built into it.”
It was as if the former MSNBC host was setting himself apart from the modern-day TV news anchors, who allegedly cower to Trump’s demands.
When Matthews said “It’s just fear,” he’s not describing Trump’s behavior so much as revealing the media’s own inability to adapt to shrinking audiences and dwindling trust. He’s turned what should be a critique of left-leaning media into a kind of therapeutic feedback loop, blaming the failure of shows like The Late Show on a fear of Trump rather than losing an audience to unrelenting liberal bias.
Because the truth was simple: people stop watching shows when they stop being compelling, funny, informative, and trustworthy. They quit funding institutions they no longer trust. And they stop paying attention to pundits who blame ratings declines on a President, because the taste of liberal bias is growing bitter in the mouths of the American public but the media has simply refused to acknowledge that the issue might actually be themselves.
The entire transcript is below click "expand" to read.
Charlie Rose Podcast
July 26, 2025
TIMESTAMP 00:11:53(…)
CHARLIE ROSE: What do you miss about your show?
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Being there–
ROSE: Hardball.
MATTHEWS: Oh, it's easy, it's easy when– when– when there was something hot going on. I love the fact that it was on at five, and sometimes at seven. Initially, I thought five was the best and still do. Five o'clock is when people get their first peek at the day's news. It's– it's just happened. All the people going home from work or they've said what they're gonna say, and you get the first pop at five. I always thought that was great.
I didn't have to do features like, you know, like other people do later in the night, or, you know, Lawrence O'Donnell or– or– I didn't have to do that. I did the news as it came. And it was fun. I loved doing it. I loved it.
I mean I was tired at the end of the week. I was exhausted because I was doing six shows a week. I did the Sunday– the Sunday show, which was doing very well, but NBC decided they weren't gonna continue it, but I think that was a mistake, obviously.
I don't think there's a market for a McLaughlin or something like that. I think people still love the fun of politics. They– it's a little dreary watching these cable shows today. It's just dreary. People know the answer. The favorite answer is always, I agree with you completely. That's the answer. Whatever you say has the question built into it, and people say, that was a great question. I agree with you completely. Nobody argues anymore. Hardball is gone. There is no more argument. None.
ROSE: But don't you have a new show on Substack?
MATTHEWS: Yeah, I'm doing it. I'm doing it. It's– it's different because I'm, I'm letting people like Terry Moran explain what he, what's he he's going through and what he thinks is connected to it, what he thinks 60 Minutes was–
ROSE: Explain who Terry is. He was a–
MATTHEWS: Terry Moran worked ABC since the 1990s. He was most of the time chief White House correspondent. He was, you know, straight reporter, that was the idea. And I want to know how 60 Minutes– George Stephanopoulos case, and all these cases are related. Are they all related? A lot of people think so.
ROSE: Well do you think so?
MATTHEWS: Well, fear and weakness. Weakness. Fear– fear of God, fear of Trump. It’s just fear him. It’s fear. It’s the most common emotion on the planet, you know?
Well, I mean it’s Shari Redstone, these people want, they want money, I guess greed is part of it, but they don't wanna – they don't want to challenge the bully. I mean, they just, they're afraid of the bully. I, I understand it.
(…)
