Former MSNBC host Chris Matthews claimed on Wednesday that rural Americans were essentially members of a “cult” and would “vote their craziness” if Democrats did not show up at the polls in numbers large enough to prevent them from doing so.
Matthews made an appearance during a panel discussion on Wednesday’s broadcast of “Morning Joe,” joined by fellow panelist and former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) as well as regular hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. He explained that if Democrats wanted to fight back on issues they cared about, they would have to make sure they voted in large numbers.
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Chris Matthews and Mika Brzezinski on Morning Joe
"Voters have to get out there and say damnit: If I'm a young person, if I'm a black person if I'm out in the streets, I don't trust the cops I've got to vote that way. If I am a woman and I want to protect myself I got to vote… pic.twitter.com/JXRg0kslkw— Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) January 10, 2024
Brzezinski began by setting the stage, noting that the Iowa caucuses were just days away and primary elections would begin just a short time after.
McCaskill noted that caucuses could be awkward for those who are not supporting former President Donald Trump, particularly in more rural areas where he is more popular.
“If you are not on Donald Trump’s bandwagon, if you’re not a member of the cult, then you just stay quiet,” she said — but pointed out just how difficult that could be when there was a caucus rather than a traditional primary. “Everybody sees which — which corner of the room you go to, uh, who you are joining.”
“Iowa is days away. New Hampshire is coming up. And Donald Trump, given this conversation, even, is the clear frontrunner,” Brzezinski prompted, turning the floor over to Matthews.
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“You know, I think President Biden gave a good speech on Friday. I think he began the conversation about the Constitution and democracy,” Matthews began. “But I think he has to turn the corner and go to the next step. The reason we love our democracy. The reason we all love it is, if we don’t like the government and they’re doing something, we can do something about it.”
Matthews went on to argue that the most important issue to vote for was civil rights, giving a rambling story about the city of Philadelphia to illustrate his point.
“You know, when I was growing up in Philadelphia, there were the black, a majority of black, majority now, they voted, they were highly registered voters. They were more registered than the white people. You know why? Because they had Frank Rizzo as mayor. You had a law and order guy, and they said, this is the only way we can defend ourselves. You had, you had black lives, this is an early case of that. You have to defend yourself. You have to vote to protect your rights in the Constitution.”
“The Bill of Rights was put there by Jefferson and Madison because people said the Constitution and democracy is not enough. We have to write in here our Bill of Rights,” Matthews continued, adding, “And I have to, and voters have to get out there and say, damn it, if I’m a young person, if I’m a black person, if I’m out in the streets and I don’t trust the cops, I got to vote that way. And if I am a woman, I want to protect myself in my own decisions. I’ve got to vote that way.”
He then argued that the 2024 election was likely to be a close one, saying that made it even more important for Democrats to get out and vote: “It’s going to be very close in places like Pennsylvania, and you’re gonna have rural people out there voting their craziness about the cult, so you better be there to match them and you got to be there. Vote against that. And I’m telling you, this is really important that you vote for your rights.”
“I know it is. And for women especially, we’ve already lost many rights,” Brzezinski said, referencing the overturning of the landmark abortion case Roe v. Wade. “Fifty years of rights.”