The MSNBC host Chris Matthews has always displayed a number of character flaws, including a tendency to over-react, and to place excessive importance on what's going on in his own mind. As a child of the Cold War, socialism will always be a dangerous hobgoblin for him. He's fine with it when it's described as 'social programs' or some other handy euphemism, but the word itself clearly elicits a reflex negative reaction from him to this day.
He's a useful illustration of why Sanders may struggle in a general election. If he were to win the Democratic nomination, the Trump team will be hammering away on things along the lines of 'he's a horrible socialist who wants to turn the US into the Soviet Union.' That will resonate with people of Matthews's demographic, including many older Democratic voters (and in the US, older people tend to vote in higher percentages than young people).
'Chris Matthews Slammed for Spreading Misinformation About Sanders' Democratic Socialist Agenda on Post-Debate Panel'
MSNBC host Chris Matthews drew rebukes on social media Friday night after suggesting that as a Democratic Socialist, Sen. Bernie Sanders could lead a dictatorship in which establishment political figures would be "executed," should he win the presidency.
Following the Democratic primary debate, Matthews joined other MSNBC commentators including Joy Reid and Chris Hayes in a panel discussion in which Matthews expressed concerns about Sanders's democratic socialist ideals, which he claimed the Vermont senator has not clarified.
"I believe if Castro and the reds had won the Cold War there would have been executions in Central Park and I mght have been one of the ones getting executed," Matthews said, referring to former Cuban President Fidel Castro. "I don't know who Bernie Sanders supports over these years, I don't know what he means by socialism."
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Matthews admitted that Sanders has suggested, "We're going to be like Denmark."
"Okay, that's harmless, that's basically a capitalist country with a lot of good social welfare programs. Denmark is harmless," he said, still appearing unconvinced that as president, Sanders aims to push the U.S. in the direction of many wealthy countries which offer universal healthcare, tuition-free public college, and other strong universal programs.
"It's pretty clearly in the Denmark category," Hayes replied. "I mean, that's what he says and that's what his agenda calls for, right?"
