Chris Matthews is mad as hell, and he’s not going to take it anymore.
In fact, as far as the media personalities who have reacted poorly to news this week that Justice Anthony Kennedy will retire at the end of July are concerned, Matthews ranks among the worst.
“I don’t think the Democrats should allow even meetings to occur with Trump’s nominee to fill this vacancy by Justice Kennedy,” the MSNBC host said in response to the bombshell announcement, adding that if Kennedy “gets replaced by a hardline social conservative, it is — the Democratic leadership will have hell to pay. They cannot let this happen. They have to play hardball.”
Way to stay on brand, my man.
“If [Democrats] allow this to proceed, they’re going to look stupid, they’re going to look weak, and they’re going to be overthrown. I tell you, the Democratic base is wired now for a revolt,” Matthews added. “This will be the trigger for it. He shouldn’t have a meeting with any of his nominees. They shouldn’t have any hearings, they shouldn’t show up for any hearings. They should fight this tooth and nail.”
Later, Matthews’ irritation over the fact that President Trump will get to pick yet another Supreme Court Justice got to the point where he started to take his frustrations out on colleague Steve Kornaki and SCOTUSblog’s Tom Goldstein.
“The Left of the Democratic Party, the progressive base of the party, and that’s minorities, young people, millennials, it’s also Hispanics, Latinos, African-Americans, they’re tired of losing!” Matthews shouted as they discussed what Kennedy’s looming exit means for the country. “They’re tired of losing!”
Kornaki tried repeatedly to outline possible steps Democratic lawmakers could take to deal with the hand they’ve been dealt, prompting Matthews to blurt out at one point, “you don’t understand this!”
“Okay, okay, Steve, let’s talk about this in a couple of weeks and see who’s right, alright?” Matthews added.
Goldstein, meanwhile, attempted to explain that there’s not a lot that Democrats can do to slow Trump’s march towards picking another Supreme Court justice without also jeopardizing their hopes for the November midterm elections.
“The real issue is this: Democrats are going to have to vote, because there’s no procedural way to stop it before the midterm election. And there’s just too many people who are running in elections, senators, in states that Donald Trump won,” Goldstein said. “There’s going to be enormous pressure on them, since they can’t beat the nominee, to vote for the nominee. So I’ll take Chris’ bet at 10-to-one.”
He concluded by predicting Trump’s eventual pick to replace Kennedy would probably win confirmation by a 56-44 vote. But Matthews was having none of it.
“What you just said sir, is not acceptable politically to the Democratic base!” he shouted, sounding unusually angry and passionate. Matthews predicted the “implosion” of the Democratic leadership if the confirmation goes through at all. “It’s not acceptable to accept this is a fait accompli, which you just did.”
