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Chris Matthews: 2005's Misinformer of the
Year
Media Matters
December 23, 2005
Since our launch in May 2004, Media Matters for America has monitored,
analyzed, and corrected conservative misinformation in the media, wherever and
whenever we find it. As you may remember, last year our staff conducted an
extensive review of all the misinformation we identified and corrected in the
early days in order to name the first annual "Misinformer of the Year." We
singled out one particularly egregious purveyor of falsehoods and awarded Bill
O'Reilly the dubious title. O'Reilly graciously accepted the award on Fox News'
The O'Reilly Factor.
This year, of all the news anchors, columnists, pundits, and reporters whose
work we've critiqued and corrected, one man stands alone as a clear successor
to the O'Reilly throne. We are pleased to announce broadcast journalist, former
newspaper bureau chief, former presidential speechwriter, and best-selling
author Chris Matthews has earned the title of 2005's "Misinformer of the Year."
At times, it has even been difficult to tell the difference between 2005's
Misinformer of the Year and his predecessor.
For your reading pleasure, we've compiled some highlights of Matthews's most
egregious false and misleading claims, as well as his glowing and gushing
praise for President Bush.
Without further ado:
- Chris ♥ George, Part 1: Bush
sometimes "glimmers" with "sunny nobility." On MSNBC's Hardball, during a
discussion with Washington Times editorial page editor Tony Blankley of the
effects on President Bush and his administration of the investigation into the
leak of the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame, Matthews said "[S]ometimes it
glimmers with this man, our president, that kind of sunny nobility." [Hardball,
10/24/05]
- ♥ George, Part 2: "Everybody sort of
likes the president, except for the real whack-jobs ..." Insulting the majority
of Americans who hold an unfavorable opinion of President Bush, Matthews
exclaimed on Hardball: "Everybody sort of likes the president, except for the
real whack-jobs, maybe on the left," adding, "I mean, like him personally."
[Hardball, 11/28/05]
- ♥ George, Part 3: Matthews praised
Bush speech as "brilliant" even before it was delivered. Before Bush had even
delivered his November 30 speech at the U.S. Naval Academy, Matthews used
variations of the word "brilliant" twice to describe it, while deriding
Democratic critics of the Iraq war as "carpers and complainers." [MSNBC live
coverage, 11/30/05]
- ♥ George, Part 4: Bush "belongs on
Mount Rushmore." Recounting his experience at a White House party, Matthews
said that he "felt sensitive" during his interactions with the president,
adding: "You get your picture taken with him. It's like Santa Claus, and he's
always very generous and friendly." He continued: "I felt like I was too
towel-snappy with him," explaining that Bush had noted his "red scarf" and
remarked that he looked "preppy." During the same show, Matthews stated: "If
[Bush's] gamble that he can create a democracy in the middle of the Arab world"
is successful, "he belongs on Mount Rushmore." [Hardball, 12/16/05]
- Matthews on the filibuster debate: Democrats are "just sort of pouting and
bitching." Matthews weighed in on the filibuster debate in May, declaring: "I
think the Democrats started this fight. I think they did. ... You know, I think
Democrats should win more elections. That will solve their problem." Days
later, in discussing the Senate compromise agreement to avert the "nuclear
option" to ban judicial filibusters, Matthews repeatedly espoused Republican
talking points, claiming, among other things, that because of the recent
bipartisan agreement aimed at averting the "nuclear option," Democrats can stop
"pouting and bitching ... [and] actually participate in legislation now"; that
Republicans might "get double-crossed or screwed by the Democrats"; and that
the Republican position that every judicial nominee deserves an up-or-down vote
"sounds great to me." [Hardball, 5/18/05]
- Matthews repeatedly smeared Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. On April 24,
Matthews attacked Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) by referring to her as a
"sort of a Madame Defarge of the left." On May 30, Matthews questioned
Clinton's ability to lead, expressing surprise that retired Gen. Barry
McCaffrey, an NBC military analyst, wasn't "chuckling a little bit" at the idea
of Clinton giving orders to the troops as commander in chief. On July 11,
Matthews said Sen. Clinton "looked more witchy" because she criticized the Bush
administration's homeland security spending priorities on July 8, a day after
the London bombings. On July 27, Matthews asked Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) if he
thought Sen. Clinton is a "big-government socialist." [Hardball, 5/30/05; The
Chris Matthews Show, 4/24/05; Hardball, 7/11/05; Hardball, 7/27/05]
- Matthews falsely claimed Democrats accused Alito of being "lenient on the
mob." During MSNBC's coverage of the nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. to
the Supreme Court, Matthews repeatedly misrepresented a document about Alito
that was circulated by Democrats. Waving the document around on camera -- but
not quoting directly from it -- Matthews falsely claimed that the document
accused Alito of being "lenient on the mob" and made the baseless assertion
that, by mentioning a case involving organized crime, Democrats were "go[ing]
after [Alito's Italian] ethnicity." In fact, the document, available here, made
no mention of Alito's ethnicity and simply noted that he lost a high-profile
mob case -- not that he was "lenient" on anybody. [Hardball, 10/31/05]
- Matthews made false claim about Jan. 30 Iraqi election. In praising the
Iraqi election in January, Matthews falsely claimed that no insurgent attacks
had occurred at polling places on election day. In fact, attacks on Iraqi
polling places were widely reported during the January 30 elections. [Hardball,
1/31/05]
- Matthews distorted poll data to claim Catholics are increasingly
Republican. Matthews cherry-picked poll data to support his misleading claim
that Catholics have voted increasingly Republican since 1960. In fact, exit
poll data indicate that Catholics are actually a swing constituency: In every
presidential election since 1980, a majority or plurality of Catholics have
voted for the candidate who won the popular vote, including Bill Clinton in
1992 and 1996 and Al Gore in 2000. [The Chris Matthews Show, 4/10/05]
- Matthews's panels consistently skew to the right. Matthews has hosted
numerous MSNBC panels that contained far more conservative commentators than
progressives. In 2005, the trend was especially prevalent during MSNBC's
presidential inauguration coverage; and both before and after Bush's State of
the Union address. While moderating discussion panels on Hardball, Matthews has
repeatedly emphasized the liberal allegiances of progressive guests while
failing to note that other guests on the same panels were Republican.
- Matthews distorted Murtha's Iraq proposal. Matthews repeatedly suggested
that Rep. John P. Murtha's (D-PA) call for a redeployment of U.S. forces from
Iraq was inconsistent with his record of being "known as the soldiers' friend"
and "pro-Pentagon, pro-soldier." The suggestion echoed news reports that
described Murtha as being "usually pro-military" -- implying that his position
on redeployment is not -- and a "pro-military" Democrat, suggesting that the
typical Democrat is not. [Hardball, 11/18/05]
- Matthews resurrected false claim that Saddam let Sunni fundamentalists
"come in for ... training." Matthews falsely claimed that, prior to his
overthrow by U.S.-led forces, Saddam Hussein allowed Islamic terrorists to
train for chemical warfare in northern Iraq. In fact, as the Los Angeles Times
noted on June 15, 2003, the training camp, operated by Kurdish Islamic
fundamentalist group Ansar al-Islam, "was in an autonomous Kurdish region not
ruled by Hussein." [Hardball, 11/9/05]
- Matthews falsely insisted that the ongoing insurgency in Iraq was
unexpected. Ignoring evidence that the Bush administration received repeated
prewar warnings of the potential for a sustained insurgency in Iraq, Matthews
insisted that the continuing bloodshed had not been anticipated. Matthews
suggested that the "enduring" nature of the Iraqi insurgency was a surprise and
told viewers that he didn't "know many people who expected it to still be going
on this long." However, as reported by USA Today, "Military and civilian
intelligence agencies repeatedly warned prior to the invasion that Iraqi
insurgent forces were preparing to fight and that their ranks would grow as
other Iraqis came to resent the U.S. occupation and organize guerrilla
attacks." [The Chris Matthews Show, 9/25/05]
- Matthews falsely attacked Wilson over Niger trip's genesis. Matthews
falsely accused former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV of claiming during his
July 6 Meet the Press appearance and in his July 6 New York Times op-ed that
Vice President Dick Cheney had sent him on his February 2002 trip to
investigate whether Iraq had tried to acquire uranium from Niger. In fact,
Wilson never made such a claim in either his Times op-ed or his appearance on
Meet the Press. Wilson wrote in his Times op-ed that CIA officials, not the
vice president, asked him to go to Niger; discussing his op-ed on Meet the
Press, Wilson said that the "the question [of Iraq seeking uranium from Niger]
was asked of the CIA by the office of the vice president." [The Chris Matthews
Show, 7/24/05]
- Matthews mischaracterized Democratic efforts to complete intel probe as
"disingenuous," "using crocodile tears." Matthews baselessly assigned motives
to both the Democrats' support for authorizing the president to take the
country to war in October 2002 and their recent push to complete "phase two" of
the Senate Intelligence Committee's probe into the prewar intelligence on Iraq.
Matthews characterized Democrats' efforts to fully examine the Bush
administration's handling of the intelligence as "disingenuous," "using
crocodile tears," and "trying to climb down off the war." Matthews ignored
Democrats' argument that the judgments provided to Congress on the Iraqi threat
prior to the vote were later found to have been false or exaggerated.
[Hardball, 11/1/05]
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