WaPo's Margaret Sullivan: The real reason Chris Matthews had to go

[Dennis Donovan]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/the-real-reason-chris-matthews-had-to-go/2020/03/03/e769f850-5d58-11ea-b29b-9db42f7803a7_story.html

By Margaret Sullivan
Media columnist

March 3, 2020 at 12:20 p.m. EST

<snip>

But this casual sexism wasn’t at the heart of why he had to go. One of the most prominent and well-paid hosts in the cable-news game didn’t listen, didn’t do his homework, and treated politics as a game in which noisy confrontation was a necessity. The problem was less about green-room boorishness and far more about what you could see and hear on the air — especially in recent weeks, but also going back a long way.

For years, Matthews was a harsh and misogynistic critic of Hillary Clinton — once calling her a “she-devil,” and attributing any of her success in the 2008 presidential primary to the fact that, as he put it, “her husband messed around.” More recently, his comparison of Bernie Sanders’ winning the Nevada primary to the “fall of France” to the Nazis was a horribly offensive gaffe given Sanders’s Jewish heritage and his having lost family members to the Holocaust.

But for me, an occasional member of the “Hardball” audience, there was something worse.

With his reported $5 million annual salary, he wielded enormous influence. For many years, he had the power to sway public opinion on the crucial topics of the day. Not infrequently, he failed the main test of someone in that role. He was ready to offer his own views, but not prepared to hear those of his guests or to bring deep knowledge to the conversation.

Frequently described as “bombastic,” and certainly an excitable yeller, Matthews had a tendency to ask a question, and then, just as his subject was beginning to answer, interrupt, asking it differently or inserting his own opinion.

</snip>

Brutal, but true...

[Brainfodder]

1. He was hard to watch and that should be enough for cancellation?

Those frown lines, he must be a miserable crusty in private too?

He had overstayed, won't be missed, now about Mrs. Greenspan and Mr. Todd?

[Cosmocat]

28. Yeah

I literally have not watched his show in going on a decade.

He was horribly boorish, as noted talked over people after questions before they even had a chance to answer, and just generally was impossible to watch.

And, yes, Mrs. Greenspan and Todd have to go, too ...

[dmr]

51. Yes he was. I stopped watching years ago.

There was an animated gif here back in the early days of DU where he repeatedly said "Clinton's cock, Clinton's cock ..." Mathews was obsessed with knocking the Clinton's. I hated that.

[NoPasaran]

121. I remember that gif

I think it came originally from the late great Bartcop, who had absolutely no use for Tweety.

[Upthevibe]

100. YES! Please get rid of Andrea Mitchell...

(who was awful to Hillary) and Chuck Toad is horrible! I would have preferred them being gone over Matthews..

[Backseat Driver]

101. Andrea Mitchell is like the Joan Rivers of the Red Carpet but not as stylish, LOL

well, just a little bit, LOL!

[AZ8theist]

108. I ALWAYS found him unwatchable due to the constant interrupting....

But the LAST time I even bothered with his show was when, after Shrub made that speech at Ground Zero, Mathews blurted out "WE'RE ALL NEOCONS NOW!!!!"
Fuck you, asshole. I will NEVER be a fucking Neocon no matter what happens. I'm not that stupid.

[vlyons]

2. Yes "Tweety" was famous for his interruptions

I found him tiresome. All that yelling, and his constant interruptions were tiresome. I usually switched the channel to something else. Even an old Law and Order rerun or anything on Animal Planet was better to watch.

I wonder how many advertisers were dropping him?

[calimary]

75. I can't help wondering how the guest seated closest to him

avoided the spittle shower that inevitably spewed out of his mouth while he yelled and bellowed and hyperventilated. And interrupted and talked over them. And fumfered his words.

SHEESH he blew so many pronunciations that my husband and I would start the “what number of martinis did he have at lunch this time?”

“What? Did he just come back from a two-martini lunch?”

“Three, ya think?”

“Man, that must have been a FIVE-martini lunch. If he were stumbling over trash cans he’d be in traction by now...” “Yeah. And he never did get the pronunciation right.”

[robbob]

112. Fumfer! Love it!

I learn something new every day here!

[calimary]

116. I worked with an engineer who was a lover of words

and wordplay. He’d use that one all the time, especially in the case of some air-talent who needed a dozen-or-more takes to get through a 30-second script.

I don’t know if it’s the meaning or the onomatopoeia of it or if it’s even a legitimate word (much less how it’s spelled!). But it IS a fun word!

[PCIntern]

115. Fumfer!!!!! Terrific!

The last time I heard that was my mom’s Yiddish tirades at the TV when a RWer would be on. You took me back!

[calimary]

117. Well then! I guess it actually IS a word!

Whooda thunkit?



The stuff that launches a thousand blooper reels!

[robbob]

118. Oh yeah, I highlighted (highlit??) the word

and looked it up. Definitely a real word, of Yiddish origin.

[calimary]

119. Well how 'bout that!

Yep. I learn something new every day here!

[PCIntern]

120. You're a real

Yiddisha-mama.

[calimary]

122. Hey, I grew up on Myron Cohen and Shelley Berman's "Cleans and Dirtys"!

and right outta Catholic school gave my virginity to a nice Jewish boy who worked at the local record store and never ate vegetables.

So whaddya want from me?!

[PCIntern]

123. Wow!

I love it when you talk dirty!

[FakeNoose]

105. That was why I couldn't watch his show

The frequent interruptions and talking over his "guests" - made me wonder why anybody would ever want to be on his show. Matthews seemed to think that the only opinion that mattered was his own, and I found it irritating to the point where I just turned him off. Based on what's been posted here on DU it seems a lot of other people were doing the same. I don't know, maybe Chris Matthews mattered 30 years ago, but that was before the cable news format took over and he has never adapted.

[Wellstone ruled]

3. Bottom line,

hopefully they(NBC)replace this slug with some one who can add to the betterment of Public Discussion.

[Dennis Donovan]

4. Shep Smith would be a good fit

[lame54]

6. No ex-Fox'ers

[Peregrine Took]

15. Amen to that. SO tired of seeing Wallace, Jolly, Steele, Schmidt, etc.

Why are they any better covering political news than Democrats?

MSNBC seems to over value their comments.

[JaneQPublic]

57. Yep. Once Trump is out and the GOP reverts to something akin to Bush-McCain mode...

...then Wallace and Scarborough and Steele and the rest of them will show their true colors: deep shades of red.

Then MSNBC will be indistinguishable from Fox for half the day.

[czarjak]

79. Nice gig if you can get it though? (For them, of course)

[tenderfoot]

94. YEP!!!! If a Dem wins the WH - they'll revert to insufferable assholes they always were.

It slays me how many on this site buy into their charade.

[certainot]

98. cons who analyze politics as if limbaugh and co didn't rule their party are worse than the dems who

completely ignore it

at least the dems can plead ignorance for never hearing of talk radio or knowing anyone who listened to it

[Wellstone ruled]

10. They will give that slot to Brian Williams

watch and see.

[shanti]

21. But, but

wasn't he punished for his lying by putting his show last?

[Wellstone ruled]

24. Phill Grifen and Andy Lack

have been doing a Rejuvenation of Williams. Remember he still gets 25 million per year.

[shanti]

25. That much?

And Chris Matthews was only getting $5 mil per year?

[Wellstone ruled]

30. One of the highest paid so called

Talents in the Business .

[DownriverDem]

26. Now he's

paid his dues and will be back in the more reasonable time slot.

[LisaM]

56. Conflating two incidents, not "lying"

It's a really common thing, and he's paid a really heavy price for it.

OTOH, I like his show best of all the MSNBC shows, and, since I'm on the West Coast, it's the one I'm most likely to watch live. He gets good guests who work well with him and each other, and I really learn a lot from his show.

He's also got a very wry sense of humor that I appreciate. Keep him where he is!

[moonscape]

69. I do like his sense of humor and quick wit. n/t

[Grasswire2]

92. I like where he is, too

A review of the day's top political news, calm and witty. Great guests.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

31. Shep Smith WOULD be a good fit.....

He came out as a Gay man, opposed much of the hard right opinions of the previous and current Fox hosts.

Give Shep a chance. People see the error of their ways and come out of the darkness.

[CaptYossarian]

67. He would do his best to outperform his former employer.

Smith asked about coming out at a "company picnic"-type setting at Roger Ailes' house. Ailes flat-out told him no way. He's been bitter at them ever since.

In sports, how many times have you seen a former teammate almost singlehandedly defeat his old team? There's more determination and adrenaline involved.

[Meadowoak]

52. Ron Reagan jr.

[Pepsidog]

73. Joy Reid deserves it if she wants it. Smart as a whip and not afraid to say it like it is.

[demigoddess]

96. I like Ari Velshi.

[disndat]

109. Wow.

I thought I was in an exclusive club of one. The main reason why I watched C. Matthews. Reagan jr. is a brilliant
political analyst. He belongs on MSNBC.

[disndat]

110. wow.

I thought I belonged to an exclusive club of one. Reagan jr. is a great analyst of political events.
He deserves to have more air time.

[lame54]

5. Plus all the spittle

[empedocles]

7. Immediate 'cancellation'? There is more to this story than 'bombastic ' habits, etc.

[BSdetect]

8. He was a bombastic boor.

[randr]

9. He should be made to watch himself for as long as it takes

for him to get it, if ever.

[pandr32]

11. The interrupting is why I couldn't watch his show

[2naSalit]

32. +1

[hvn_nbr_2]

58. Me too

He never let a guest answer a question. As soon as they'd start to answer, he'd interrupt with another question. His guests might as well have been potted plants.

[SharonAnn]

87. Same for me. Frustrated about that frequently. Wanted to hear answers but he'd interrupt.

[PSPS]

12. I heard that there was a young female guest in the green room and he went in and exposed himself

[SaveOurDemocracy]

91. Yeah? Well I heard you wear underpants on your head.

[dewsgirl]

13. Did you see this from Last Week Tonight? It makes me wonder

if more isn't at play here. I wish him well in his retirement, he's been on the news, since I was a teenager.

[renate]

17. It makes me sad to hear people laughing

If this is due to anything other than... well, I can't imagine what this would be due to, from a professional who's been on TV for 20 years, other than a sad cause that shouldn't be laughed at.

Not to dismiss the things he's been accused of. And just last week, attacking Elizabeth Warren over Mike Bloomberg's being accused of telling a woman to get an abortion, was totally weird and creepy.

But I also wonder whether there's something going on, and I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Well, on almost anyone. And I also wish him well, especially with respect to this.

[dewsgirl]

29. Most people here do not like him, I'm not trying to downplay

what he did, OTOH I understand he is from a different generation. I think of the behaviour of some in the 90's when I was younger and am shocked by what was accepted not to long ago.

[renate]

33. oh gosh, I know you weren't trying to downplay anything!

I just meant to acknowledge that there were valid reasons for his leaving other than a possible cognitive decline, but I thought the John Oliver clip was sad, not funny. Sorry for being unclear!

[dewsgirl]

36. Oh no, that's not what I meant, it was just my thoughts on the matter.

Of course you didn't, I found the clip sad as well.

[Dennis Donovan]

20. I saw that. And, the very bizarre exchange with Jaime Harrison...

...in which, somehow in his head, he thought Jaime, who he was speaking to remotely, was actually on stage with Lindsey Graham at the same time?

That seemed, to me, to be a very serious conscious disconnect.

[dewsgirl]

22. Oh wow, I missed that.😔

[Dennis Donovan]

43. Here's the clip - it's super-painful to watch

Link to tweet

How, in his mind, did he actually think the man he was talking to was also standing next to Lindsey Graham in a live shot?

[dewsgirl]

45. Oh man..that was bad.😳 Thank you..yikes.

[leftstreet]

14. Lou Dobbs with white hair n/t

[louis-t]

16. No one is as bad as Lou Dobbs.

No one.

[Peregrine Took]

18. Borrowed the old McLaughin Group format of shouting and talking over....

just didn't work anymore.

Also, I saw him be extremely cruel to guests on his show, really humiliating them if they disagreed with him.

I think he really enjoyed that demonstration of his hyper masculinity. Very "Mad Man" in style - so passe.

[ibegurpard]

19. This right here:

"Frequently described as “bombastic,” and certainly an excitable yeller, Matthews had a tendency to ask a question, and then, just as his subject was beginning to answer, interrupt, asking it differently or inserting his own opinion."

Have never been able to stand the loudmouth boor.

[B Stieg]

23. Good riddance. nt

[Paladin]

27. And Matthew's behavior was deteriorating over the last couple of years.

He just wasn't up to the job anymore.

[Sloumeau]

34. This was my single biggest problem with Matthews:

Frequently described as “bombastic,” and certainly an excitable yeller, Matthews had a tendency to ask a question, and then, just as his subject was beginning to answer, interrupt, asking it differently or inserting his own opinion.

Chris, if you just want to hear yourself talk, why bother having guests? Everything that Margaret Sullivan said was spot on.

However, in some ways, Chuck Todd is twice as insufferable as Chris Matthews ever was when it comes to not knowing a topic, with letting Republicans getting away with Republican talking points that are demonstrably untrue, and with deliberately asking cheap "gotcha" questions of Democrats that he would never ask of Republicans. Matthews had all kinds of problems. Chuck Todd is a walking, talking disaster.

[flibbitygiblets]

47. +1 about Chuck Todd

He's like having a double-agent on your team. Just want him gone gone gone!

[JaneQPublic]

59. They should give a show to Karine Jean-Pierre. (nt)

[Sloumeau]

63. I've seen her a bunch of times on MSNBC. She's excellent. :)

Maya Wiley is good too.

[JaneQPublic]

68. Also love Maya Wiley.

While Joy Reid is great, it's inexcusable that she's the only black women on the station with her own show.

[katmondoo]

80. Maya is so smart and can explain very complex matters with ease.

[misanthrope]

64. You forgot

"One of the most prominent and well-paid hosts in the cable-news game didn’t listen, didn’t do his homework, and treated politics as a game in which noisy confrontation was a necessity. "

In short, he wasn't that good at his job and certainly didn't approach it like a professional.

[Boomer]

35. Long overdue

Like others on this thread, I would be sorry to hear if something has recently gone wrong with his health, mental or otherwise, but I've found Matthews unwatchable for years.

[TimeToGo]

37. Well, . . .

"didn’t do his homework, and treated politics as a game in which noisy confrontation was a necessity"

This can't be true, because it defines almost every other political show on cable.

[bucolic_frolic]

38. OP correct, it is true

I rarely watched him. It was more argument for argument's sake than any real information. Always left feeling brutalized, for years I thought him a conservative.

With HardBall you got confrontation. With Meet the Press you get Republican softball.

For all its alleged liberal slant, MSNBC still has problems delivering a semblance of reality.

[mahina]

39. The constant interrupting was so rude, egotistical and made him

Unwatchable for me.

[Azathoth]

40. Matthews left because he was old, slipping, and didn't want to deal with the criticism

It's as simple as that. His hypomanic shouting routine and often-absurd opinions had nothing to do with it. He got grandfathered in because he was cable news opinion before there was cable news opinion.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

41. Two words for that piece bull shit

[NoMoreRepugs]

42. The realignment of hosts or addition of a new

face will be interesting.

[capechacon]

44. Don't be such a lightweight....

Oh dear, oh dear...an outspoken, experienced host wasn't always as polite and deferential as he should have been.

Well too bad...I didn't always agree with Chris Mathews and found his frequent habit of talking "over" guests to be irritating. Nevertheless, he was a hugely experienced, (usually) reasonable voice who was not afraid to bluntly express his honest opinion to both his audience and his guests. He show also often included visitors with opinions at variance with his own.

Mathews was hardly perfect. But he was an outspoken, respected, basically reasonable and venerable political personality. He deserved better than to have been abruptly cashiered as he was yesterday.

[stopdiggin]

60. Hmmm. Well, that appears to one vote for ...

Still looking for a second ... Waiting ...

I agree with the OP. It wasn't so much that the man was a misogynistic, mean spirited bully .. but on top of that he was ill-informed, not terribly astute, and not very good at his JOB! And it was the latter rather than the former that led to his ouster. Long overdue.

(comparing a Democratic caucus to the Nazis rolling into France is not a matter of being bombastic .. it's a matter of being a "danger to yourself and others" sh** for brains.)

[capechacon]

86. Well, I guess we can agree....

to disagree.

[More_Cowbell]

65. I think he quit, wasn't cashiered

If they'd fired him, someone else would have been ready to take over after the commercial break.

[TomVilmer]

111. Yep!

[Bernardo de La Paz]

46. He was a big mouth. Big mouths don't make room for brains or other perspectives. . . . nt

[ancianita]

48. Bump Nicole Wallace up to prime time. I have to say Claire McCaskill offers a LOT to 52% of viewers.

[NCjack]

72. "Yes" for Claire McCaskill. Someone with insider knowledge of

how WDC politics works.

[ancianita]

77. I like how she frames, and articulates political talk and action. I like Nicole because she's no-bs.

They both bring humor into hard-edged discussion, also. As much a Matthews, only funnier and not at the expense of commenters.

[Grasswire2]

93. I don't like Claire at all. nt

[ancianita]

95. That's it? No reasons? Maybe you're not her intended audience?

[Grasswire2]

97. I got turned off during the impeachment with her constant texting with people on the floor.

That's my opinion, and my reason.

[Reader Rabbit]

49. His bizarre man-crush on W should have had some negative repercussions.

That was just downright unprofessional, and creepy AF.

[Skittles]

102. yes

I remember him getting swoony over the codpiece

[Nitram]

50. Excellent analysis.

[mjvpi]

53. He didn't listen to his guests

Why have smart people on a talk show just to take up space between you own points of view?

[JaneQPublic]

61. Tweety once explained that he listened with his mouth.

He actually said that last summer at one of his live on-location shows.

I figured he was joking, be he really meant it.

[True Blue American]

54. I grew tired of the spitting

And yelling long ago. Pundits shouting their changing opinions over and over are worn out.

Scarborough needs to be the next one to go. His show is stale and tired.

[NRaleighLiberal]

55. annoying asshole. Hated him last time I watched TV 12 years ago - seems things only got worse.

good riddance.

[marble falls]

62. He got along well with W until Barack Obama was elected. I didn't know he was a Democrat ...

until then.

[uponit7771]

66. Chuck Todd has to go next he is worse than Matthews treating politics as a game

[catrose]

70. Suddenly this behavior is unacceptable after almost 2 decades?

[Democrats_win]

71. MSNBC: Almost Safe at 5pm (MST) now.

Matthews was obnoxious but not very funny or effective.

If they want obnoxious give me someone who has a biting humor like Samantha Bee or Stephanie Miller. That's what we need during the Trump Sh*t show.

[kairos12]

74. Always pushing his books. Couldn't stand him.

[Trueblue Texan]

76. "Matthews had a tendency to ask a question, and then, just as his subject was beginning to answer...

...interrupt, asking it differently or inserting his own opinion.


That wasn't a "tendency," it was his TRADEMARK and made him unwatchable from my perspective. I suspect few will miss him.

[Paladin]

78. Phil Donahue to Matthews: How does it feel, motherfucker?

If Donahue isn't thinking that, he ought to be.

[infullview]

81. A lot of bashing going on here...

For whatever you all say you hate about Chris Matthews, it was clear that the staff at MSNBC were pretty broken up about what happened. I think it was Steve Kornacki who filled in for Matthews and was in tears at the end of the show.

[Raine]

82. EXACTLY and he was unprepared, never listened,

contradicted his guests and sometimes even himself in what he had previously said!

[Raven123]

83. Stopped watching Matthews, when his leg started tingling 12 years ago

[jcgoldie]

89. you stopped watching because he liked Barack Obama?

?

[Raven123]

104. No.

However, his treatment of Hillary Clinton as described in the article and the “tingling” comment convinced me that Matthews is unprofessional, to put it mildly, and unworthy of my time and attention.

[TygrBright]

84. They should just cancel "Hairball" altogether rather than replacing Tweety. n/t

[muriel_volestrangler]

85. $5 million? That's over $3 per viewer

Last month, “Hardball With Chris Matthews” was dead last in the 7 p.m. ET time slot among adults 25-54, the key demographic for cable news programming most coveted by advertisers. According to Nielsen’s Live + Same Day ratings, he drew just 229,000 viewers per episode in the key demo — trailing both Fox News’ “The Story With Marta MacCallum” (512,000 adults 25-54) and CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront” (251,000 adults 25-54).

Still, Matthews managed to draw 1.5 million total viewers, ahead of Burnett (964,000) but still well behind MacCallum (2.7 million). That means the 74-year-old’s audience skewed a little long in the tooth.

https://www.thewrap.com/chris-matthews-hardball-ratings-last-place-msnbc/

People complain when the top BBC news presenter gets under £500,000 - about $700,000: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-48839428 . His usual timeslot gets about 3.5 million viewers.

[jcgoldie]

88. Nailed it on asking a question and then not listening or waiting for an answer

Fine line between being a tough interviewer cutting through BS and just an asshole who is waiting to talk.

[Goodheart]

90. Hmmm..... did Margaret Sullivan steal my point?

"Frequently described as “bombastic,” and certainly an excitable yeller, Matthews had a tendency to ask a question, and then, just as his subject was beginning to answer, interrupt, asking it differently or inserting his own opinion. "

What I said last night:

"he asks a question then doesn't let the interviewee fully respond without giving his own take to his own question. "

Or maybe his awful interview skills were just too damn obvious?

[Demovictory9]

99. "Matthews had a tendency to ask a question, and then, just as his subject was beginning to answer"

yep. stopped listening to him years ago. can't stand his "interview style"

[ouija]

103. No

More Republican refugees please.

[Stinky The Clown]

106. Yes! Yes! A thousand times, YES! This is it, exactly.

[90-percent]

107. After the fall of Baghdad, MSNBC's Chris Matthews declared, "We're all neocons now."

From this link: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2008/03/iraq-follies/

I vividly remember the propaganda being catapulted by GWB and Rummy and all those other PNAC imbeciles. I discovered DU during the Bush v. Gore unconstitutional tragedy and my bristling over republic corruption and lies following 9-11, when Cheney said we have to get those bastards that did this to us. I remember the good reporting links on DU at the time and the great Keith Olbermann's fearless journalism.

I also remember Chris as a cheerleader for the Iraq invasion, swept up in the fervor and deceit of the GWB administration. The first year or two he was enthusiastic about it and supported it. I remember all the false and misleading propaganda and "Americans better watch what they say" and Cheney stove piping bullshit to Judith Miller and then he could speak openly about classified info because it had been published in the NY Times.

It was frightening to watch the break down of journalistic ethics pretty much across the spectrum of MSM. I knew we were sliding into an invasion based on lies and it was unstoppable, so why not get on the bandwagon and worry about consequences later?

The gullibility and lack of integrity and ethics confirmed to me IT CAN HAPPEN HERE. And that is made easier by the likes of Matthews in MSM. Won't get fooled again? Not quite, more like will get fooled again and again and again and again.

And the end result; America is literally a full blown DICTATORSHIP with a moronic psycho bitch from hell having finally wrecked the gift our Founding Fathers gave us.

Good riddance to him and his kind.

-90% Jimmy

[JHB]

113. +9001

[geardaddy]

114. I never liked Tweety.

I'm dancing on his virtual grave.

[Liberal In Texas]

124. One of the things I can't stand is the constant interrupting of guests.

Supposedly there's a reason why the guest was invited on and it is REAL annoying to only hear a brief first part of an answer before the host or anchor breaks back in with some opinion or another question.

He's not the only one that does this. Stephanie Miller is notorious for interrupting guests. I really really like to hear what Malcolm Nance says when he is on her show once a week, but she keeps interrupting him before he can get to the salient point he tries to make.

Maybe this is just the "new and improved" way of doing radio and TV. Keep things moving or something. But I hate it.