“Morning Joe’s” Mika Brzezinski first associated Chris Matthews with terror. “When I anchored a chick show on MSNBC seven years ago he used to eat me for lunch,” she told Yeas & Nays. “He used to chew me up and spit me out on the air.” Since then, Brzezinski — like many who attended the “Hardball” host’s book party Wednesday night at the Hay-Adams — have turned to Matthews for a fun time. “I look forward to every moment,” she cooed, holding court at the fete with her co-host Joe Scarborough.
Scarborough remembers Matthews best for a big political moment they spent together: the Dean Scream. “Everybody was talking about Howard Dean,” Scarborough recalled. “And then Howard, who is a good friend of ours, came on and did his rant, and I looked over at Chris and he kind of muttered under his breath, ‘It’s over, it’s over,’ and once again he was right.”
Matthews’ party may have been to promote his new book, “Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero” and have him talk about the Kennedy history, but his guests happily chatted about their own history with the TV host.
Former RNC Chairman Michael Steele, now an MSNBC analyst, loved recounting the time he stole Matthews’ notes from him on live TV. “It was one of those moments where he didn’t know what exactly to do with me, so he ended the segment,” Steele laughed.
The Huffington Post’s Howard Fineman explained how Matthews can always detect a Fineman smirk. “This is either like two old guys on a park bench or a couple that has been married for 35 years,” Fineman said of their relationship. There was also chatter of a lot of dancing, fist bumping and political quizzing on set.
In the packed party we also spotted Sen. John Kerry, NBC’s Andrea Mitchell and former Fed chair Alan Greenspan, Washington Post’s Ben Bradlee and Bob Woodward, and DCCC head Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
