Chris Matthews' abrupt exit from MSNBC shocks viewers but not critics

"Hardball" host Chris Matthews' sudden departure from MSNBC may have shocked viewers at home, but some media critics saw his ouster coming.

“This was a long time coming and I’m sure the many women who spoke to me, either on background or off the record, about their experiences with Chris Matthews feel very vindicated right now.” Spectator USA Washington editor Amber Athey, who covered sexual harassment claims made against Matthews as a reporter for the Daily Caller back in 2017, told Fox News.

Following an exchange with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., last week, journalist Laura Bassett wrote an op-ed claiming Matthews used sexist language when she visited the MSNBC studio to appear on his show as a guest. She recalled Matthews looking at her in an adjacent makeup chair before an appearance in 2016 and asking: 'Why haven’t I fallen in love with you yet?'"

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Bassett said she laughed nervously but Matthews kept making comments to the makeup artist. “Keep putting makeup on her, I’ll fall in love with her," Matthews allegedly said.

She said he made another comment about her makeup during a separate appearance. "Make sure you wipe this off her face after the show,” she wrote he said to the makeup artist. “We don’t make her up so some guy at a bar can look at her like this.”

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Bassett said she decided to write the op-ed because of the “sexist” interview Matthews did with Warren after the last debate in which he pressed her about her accusation that former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg has once told a woman at his company to “kill” her unborn baby. Bloomberg denies he said it.

"All I gotta say is... it’s about time," Bassett initially reacted to the news of Matthews' resignation. "No, I have more to say than that. Since calling out Chris Matthews, this week has been really rough. The harassment has been invasive, cruel and personal. And it’s all worth it if he will never have the platform to demean and objectify us again."

"If MSNBC didn't care about Matthews's alleged actions then,  why would they care now? They presumably could just ignore Bassett's story like the others and eventually everyone would forget the claims that Matthews is a serial womanizer,' Athey wrote in an analysis piece Monday evening. "The truth is that Matthews's real transgression was challenging the leftward lurch of the Democratic party."

Last month, the host was heavily criticized for comparing Sen. Bernie Sanders' victory in the Nevada caucuses to the Nazi conquest of France in 1940. He later apologized for those remarks.

Matthews also suffered from an embarrassing gaffe over the weekend confusing Sen.Tim Scott, R-S.C. with Democratic senatorial candidate Jaime Harrison.

Athey suggested his Sanders remarks, as well as the "grave sin among progressive feminists" for questioning the "believe all women" mantra with Warren "sealed Matthews's fate" as an "MSNBC dinosaur about to get clobbered by a meteor sent by the new leftist order."

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Progressive journalist Matthew Tracey similarly suggested that Sanders' politics propelled Matthews' downfall.

"Bernie Bros just took down Chris Matthews... the posting works," Tracey tweeted, referring to the online backlash the "Hardball" host received after linking the Sanders victory in Nevada to Nazis.

Washington Examiner writer Tiana Lowe also pointed to "Bernie bros" as well as "Warren fans" when claiming that Matthews "survived MeToo" until he angered them.

"Corporate giants, especially supposedly liberal ones like MSNBC ought to care about ethical workplace environments regardless of the talent that might be expunged as a result. But even more important for women everywhere, caring about issues like sexual harassment and assault cannot begin only when political or personal interests are at stake," Lowe wrote. "Matthews is either the target of a witch hunt, which the available evidence doesn't seem to corroborate, or he's only facing the music because an executive found it politically expedient to finally care about sexual harassment. Both possibilities are reprehensible, and those in the 'Hardball' orbit ought to clarify."

NewsBusters managing editor Curtis Houck had a number of reasons to explain Matthews' retirement.

"Without a doubt, it's incredibly shameful that the liberal media refused in many instances to even acknowledge the reporting Amber Athey did in 2017 with the Daily Caller," he told Fox News. "So it took him returning to the headlines first for his hostility to socialist Bernie Sanders (which was refreshing to many on the right), his spin room interview with Elizabeth Warren, confusing Jaime Harrison and Tim Scott, and finally Laura Bassett's column for his career to come tumbling down. But not Athey's clear-cut reporting -- it's all been very telling."

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During his brief appearance on-air Monday night, Matthews began his show with a "headline" of his own.

"Let me start with my headline tonight: I'm retiring. This is the last 'Hardball' on MSNBC," Matthews announced at the top of his show. "And obviously, this isn't for the lack of interest in politics. As you can tell, I loved every minute of my 20 years as host of 'Hardball.' Every morning I read the papers and I'm gung-ho to get to work. Not many people have had this privilege. I loved working with my producers and our discussions we'd have on how we report the news. And I love having this connection with you, the people who watch."

He continued, "After conversations with NBC, I decided tonight will be my last 'Hardball.' So let me tell you why. The younger generations out there are ready to take the reigns. We see them in politics, in the media, and fighting for their causes."

The network did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment but Matthews spoke with NBC management and the decision was made to accelerate his looming retirement after the recent controversies, according to a person familiar with the meeting.

The longtime MSNBC host then referenced the renewed sexual harassment claims against him.

"Compliments on a woman's appearance that some men, including me, might have once incorrectly thought were okay were not okay, not then and certainly not today. And for making such comments in the past, I'm sorry," said Matthews, who went on to say that he was "very proud" of the work he had done on his show and that he will "continue" to write and talk about politics.

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"And for those of you who have gotten into the habit of watching 'Hardball' every night, I hope you're going to miss me because I'm going to miss you," Matthews concluded. "But remember Humphrey Bogart in 'Casablanca': We'll always have Hardball. So let's not say goodbye, but until we meet again."