Last Updated on February 22, 2020
As early results showed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) handily winning the Democratic Party’s Nevada Caucus, MSNBC host Chris Matthews began to express concern that a Sanders nomination “sets the direction for the future of the party.”
Despite the revelation that Russian actors are attempting to help Sanders in the 2020 election coming only hours before the Nevada caucus, Sanders handily won the event with his apparent victory obvious soon after voting began.
This led a panel on MSNBC, featuring Matthews, to question the future of the party if it is to be led by Sanders.
“I’m wondering whether the Democratic moderates want Bernie Sanders to be president,” said Matthews. “I mean that’s maybe too exciting of a question to raise, they don’t like Trump at all.”
He added, “Do they want Bernie Sanders to take over the Democratic Party in perpetuity? I mean he takes it over, he sets the direction for the future of the party. Maybe they want four years and they put in a Democrat they like?”
Prominent progressive writers and commentators immediately noted the significance of Matthews’ statement.
“Mask off: Chris Matthews suggest Democratic establishment better off with four more years of Trump than sanders movement reshaping party,” wrote Common Dreams’ Senior Editor Eoin Higgins.
Mask off: Chris Matthews suggests Democratic establishment better off with four more years of Trump than Sanders movement reshaping party.
— Eoin Higgins (@EoinHiggins_) February 22, 2020
Glenn Greenwald, the internationally known journalist who now writes for The Intercept, said Matthews is “positioning himself to back Trump’s re-election.”
“With the Sanders surge, one MSNBC host – one of their highest-paid and most prominent ones – now positioning himself to back Trump’s reelection,” wrote Greenwald. “After 4 years of non-stop alarmism about Trump the fascist dictator Russian puppet posing an existential threat to US democracy.”
With the Sanders surge, one MSNBC host – one of their highest-paid and most prominent ones – now positioning himself to back Trump's re-election after 4 years of non-stop alarmism about Trump the fascist dictator Russian puppet posing an existential threat to US democracy: https://t.co/SPujN3UkrD
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 22, 2020
Earlier this week, Matthews claimed that a Sanders nomination would secure President Trump’s second term.
Matthews has been one of President Trump’s most vocal critics, slamming the president’s inaugural address as “Hitlerian” in 2017.
