While the liberal media on-site in Normandy spent portions of Thursday chastising President Trump for his Ingraham Angle interview in the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial prior to his moving speech marking the 75th anniversary of D-Day, MSNBC’s Hardball host Chris Matthews told viewers that he was uneasy with his colleagues in the press “talk[ing] nasty boy politics in front of the graves.”
How refreshing!
It didn’t seem that Matthews would take that line as he teed up an exchange between colleague Andrea Mitchell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: “Given the chance, Nancy Pelosi has refused to comment on Trump's possible impeachment while commemorating the fallen heroes of D-Day. She didn't play Trump's game today.”
In the clip, Mitchell asked Pelosi if she “worr[ies] about the politics right now, impeachment and everything on the table, and how they can further divide us”, to which Pelosi deflected the question emphasizing that she’s “not here to talk about impeachment.”
Out of the blue, Matthews reacted to the clip with uneasiness:
I have to wonder about these media. I know Andrea is the best there is, but we probably shouldn't talk nasty boy politics in front of the graves. We have all been there, I think. It's an astounding place to go and the gravesites are something else and it is sacred ground.
The Washington Post’s Aaron Blake replied that “it's always that politics stops at the water's edge and that would doubly true when you’re standing in front of a cemetery honoring, you know, dead American service members.”
Blake added that while “all bets are off” with Trump and norms, he correctly noted that Trump talking politics overseas isn’t new because “this has eroded over the course of the last several years”. One example being a 2016 trip Joe Biden took to Latvia in which “[h]e made a dig at President Trump who was then running for the presidency talking about how he didn't respect NATO. He didn't understand Article V.”
“We don’t go over to Arlington to debate politics across the river from here,” Matthews stated in agreement.
Providing the partisan take, former Congressman Joe Crowley (D-NY) didn’t criticize the media but hailed her former colleague in Pelosi:
No, you don’t. But I also think it was kind of a softball for Nancy. You toss this up and instead of attacking the President, she showed who she really is. Her character again comes through. We’re at a sacred place, a solemn and this is not the place for it and I think it gave Nancy an opportunity to show who she — what she’s really made of.
To see the relevant transcript from MSNBC’s Hardball on June 6, 2019, click “expand.”
MSNBC’s Hardball
June 6, 2019
7:08 p.m. EasternCHRIS MATTHEWS: Given the chance, Nancy Pelosi has refused to comment on Trump's possible impeachment while commemorating the fallen heroes of D-Day. She didn't play Trump's game today. Watch.
ANDREA MITCHELL [TO PELOSI]: Do you worry about the politics right now, impeachment and everything on the table, and how they can further divide us.
HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI: Again, with all due respect to your question, I'm not here to talk about impeachment.
MATTHEWS: I have to wonder about these media. I know Andrea is the best there is, but we probably shouldn't talk nasty boy politics in front of the graves. We have all been there, I think. It's an astounding place to go and the gravesites are something else and it is sacred ground.
AARON BLAKE: I mean and it's always that politics stops at the water's edge.
MATTHEWS: Right.
BLAKE: And that would doubly true when you’re standing in front of a cemetery honoring, you know, dead American service members. But you know, this has eroded over the course of the last several years. I was looking back in 2016 when Vice President Biden was in Latvia. He made a dig at President Trump who was then running for the presidency talking about how he didn't respect NATO. He didn't understand Article V and then, of course, the President comes in and then all bets are off when the President is in office.
MATTHEWS: Yeah. We don’t go over to Arlington to debate politics.
JOE CROWLEY: No, you don’t.
MATTHEWS: — across the river from here.
CROWLEY: But I also think it was kind of a softball for Nancy. You toss this up and instead of attacking the President, she showed who she really is. Her character again comes through. We’re at a sacred place, a solemn and this is not the place for it and I think it gave Nancy an opportunity to show who she — what she’s really made of.
