MSNBC’s Chris Matthews is coming off a disastrous week filled with gaffes, controversial moments and accusations of sexist behavior – but a former reporter who detailed similar allegations against the “Hardball” host years ago thinks the criticism is only reaching critical mass now because the timing is convenient for liberals.
“Matthews has been dogged by allegations of sexual misconduct on his show for years now, including a separation-relation payment made to a staffer in 1999," Spectator USA Washington editor Amber Athey, who covered Matthews as a reporter for the Daily Caller, told Fox News. "The only reason the left is giving weight to these claims now is because they don’t like that he’s gone after Elizabeth Warren’s insistence that we must reflexively believe all women.”
In an op-ed for GQ on Friday, journalist Laura Bassett claimed 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?'"
"The only reason the left is giving weight to these claims now is because they don’t like that he’s gone after Elizabeth Warren’s insistence that we must reflexively believe all women."
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.
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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.”
MSNBC’s Chris Matthews was accused of using sexist language by journalist Laura Bassett.
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Bassett said she decided to write the op-ed because of a “sexist” interview Matthews did with Sen. Elizabeth 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.
Bassett said she wrote a similar op-ed in 2017 without naming Matthews because she was afraid to publicly accuse him at the time. She said she decided to come forward and name the MSNBC host because of the way he treated Warren, while a feminist group also called for Matthews' firing over the interview in which he asked Warren why Bloomberg would lie.
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Athey reported in 2017 that Matthews ran a “brazenly sexist news operation” and spoke with multiple sources who essentially echoed claims made Friday by Bassett. She took to Twitter following Bassett’s GQ op-ed to point out that nobody seemed to pay attention to her reporting on Matthews back when he was still a liberal media darling.
“Matthews is learning the hard way that you have to abide by the leftist dogma or risk being canceled."
“Matthews is learning the hard way that you have to abide by the leftist dogma or risk being canceled,” Athey said.
In 2017, Athey reported that NBC paid an assistant producer on MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews" $40,000 in 1999 to settle her sexual harassment claim against the anchor. An MSNBC spokesperson said at the time that executives were told that Matthews made inappropriate jokes and comments about the woman in front of others and that the matter was reviewed. It was determined the comments were inappropriate and made in poor taste but were never meant as propositions. MSNBC has not confirmed the amount paid to the woman, nor has the network said whether the payment was made to settle a harassment claim.
Liberals have indeed started to attack Matthews, who was absent from MSNBC’s coverage of South Carolina’s primary on Saturday on the heels of the GQ op-ed.
The Daily Beast, Slate, HuffPost and even “The Daily Show,” have put a spotlight on Matthews in recent days. A variety of liberal publications have labeled the MSNBC host’s recent gaffes as “cringe-worthy,” while journalist Yashar Ali questioned, “What value does Chris Matthews bring to the network?”
Several other high-profile liberals have also condemned Matthews in recent days after he survived Athey’s 2017 reporting at the height of the #MeToo era.
Media Research Center vice president Dan Gainor says that the left now wants to “destroy” Matthews simply because he’s “not a socialist,” and it has nothing to do with “the other crap he's said or done” in the past.
In addition to the controversial interview with Warren, Matthews has also been critical of Bernie Sanders and was recently slammed by an MSNBC colleague for expressing disdain for the senator.
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MSNBC did not immediately respond when asked if Matthews would host “Hardball” on Monday or partake in Super Tuesday coverage.
Fox News’ Sam Dorman and Brie Stimson contributed to this report.
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