Hardball with Chris Matthews

==Notable moments==

Matthews caused controversy with remarks made off the air at a celebration of ''Hardball''{{'}}s 10-year anniversary in October 2007. He claimed that the Bush administration—specifically Vice President [[Dick Cheney|Cheney]]'s office—had tried to "silence" him by pressuring MSNBC executives to put a stop to Matthews' criticism of the [[Iraq War]].<ref>[http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/10/11/matthews/index.html?source=search&aim=/politics/war_room Matthews: V.P.'s office tried to silence me on Cheney's Iraq role] Salon.com</ref> The [[Executive Office of the President of the United States|White House]] declined to comment.

===Michele Bachmann===
On October 17, 2008, [[Minnesota]] representative [[Michele Bachmann]] gave an interview on ''Hardball'' in support of the presidential campaign of Senator [[John McCain]]. In speaking of Senator [[Barack Obama]], Bachmann said: "we know that he is the most liberal senator in the United States Senate and that's just after one year of being there ... [with [[Nancy Pelosi]] and [[Harry Reid]]] you have a [[Troika (triumvirate)|Troika]] of the most leftist administration in the history of our country."<ref name="10/17/08">{{cite video|publisher=Hardball with Chris Matthews on NBC News|title=Interview with Rep. Michele Bachmann|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/21134540|access-date=2008-10-22|date=2008-10-17}}</ref> In reference to Republican vice-presidential candidate [[Sarah Palin]]'s comment about "pro-America areas of this great nation", Bachmann was asked which areas are anti-American and responded, "I don't think it's geography. I think it is people who don't like America, who detest America ...  you’ll find them in all walks of life all throughout America."<ref name="10/17/08"/> When asked by Matthews about Democratic [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker of the House]] Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Reid, Bachmann said, "I am not going to say if they are anti-American or pro-American."<ref name="10/17/08"/> When asked, "How many people in the Congress of the United States do you suspect as being anti-American?", she replied, "What I would say is that the news media should do a penetrating exposé and take a look. I wish they would. I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out, are they pro-America or anti-America? I think people would love to see an exposé like that."<ref name="10/17/08"/>

Bachmann's comments had an immediate impact on her re-election campaign. A campaign urging Congress to officially censure Bachmann was launched with over 35,000 signatures in the first 24 hours after her ''Hardball'' appearance.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.censurebachmann.com/ |title=Stand Up America PAC |publisher=Censurebachmann.com |access-date=2010-02-23}}</ref> In less than 72 hours, her congressional election opponent [[Elwyn Tinklenberg]] received $740,000 in donations.<ref>[http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hdJ99zAkoOv-1IIb1WWsqynamj4wD93UGSB00 AP] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081029121856/http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hdJ99zAkoOv-1IIb1WWsqynamj4wD93UGSB00 |date=October 29, 2008 }}</ref> Tinklenberg said that he heard "in that kind of a call echoes of the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]]."<ref>[http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/10/20/democrats_seek_to_unseat_michelle_bachmann/ Democrats seek to unseat Michele Bachmann] minnesota.publicradio.org</ref> However, Bachmann defeated Tinklenberg 46.4% to 43.4% in the November 4, 2008 election.

===Confrontations===
[[File:John Harwood and Howard Fineman being interviewed on HARDBALL (2008).jpg|thumb|right|220px|Chris Matthews (right) interviews [[John Harwood (journalist)|John Harwood]] (left) and [[Howard Fineman]] (center) on ''Hardball'', while in Denver for the [[2008 Democratic National Convention]].]]

====Michelle Malkin====
On August 19, 2004, conservative commentator [[Michelle Malkin]] appeared on the show and raised the question of whether Democratic candidate [[John Kerry]]'s [[Vietnam War]] wounds could have been "self-inflicted", saying that such questions were "legitimate". Matthews repeatedly asked Malkin if she thought that Kerry "shot himself on purpose" in order to avoid combat or to gain accolades, noting that such an act would constitute a criminal offense. Matthews challenged Malkin to "say to me right now that you believe he shot himself to get credit for a [[Purple Heart]]—on purpose." Malkin refused to answer, instead referring to allegations made by some of Kerry's former fellow soldiers. Matthews told Malkin that ''Hardball'' "is not a show for this kind of talk." Malkin asked if Matthews didn't wonder whether Kerry's wounds may have been self-inflicted, to which the host responded, "No! I don't, it's never occurred to me."<ref>{{YouTube|JoM90bAsr1M|Michelle Malkin on Hardball}}</ref>

====Zell Miller====
Days later, then-U.S. Senator [[Zell Miller]], ([[Democratic Party (United States)|D]]&ndash;[[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]), a Democrat who supported then-Republican President [[George W. Bush]], appeared on ''Hardball''. Miller had just given the keynote address at the Republican [[2004 Republican National Convention|convention]]. Matthews took Miller to task for his statement that soldiers, not reporters, are responsible for freedom of the press, accusing the senator of making the comment only "to get an applause line against the media at a conservative convention." Miller had also criticized Kerry's record on national defense issues during his speech, prompting Matthews to ask if the senator believed that Kerry did not want to "defend the country." During a heated exchange in which each man interrupted the other several times, Miller shouted at Matthews to "get out of my face" and angrily stated that he wished "we lived in the day where you could challenge a person to a duel." He also made reference to the Malkin interview, telling Matthews not to "pull that stuff on me like you did that young lady, when you had her there browbeating her to death. I'm not her."<ref>{{YouTube|mRRMUKh9iQM|Zell Miller Slams Chris Matthews}}</ref>

====Ann Coulter and Elizabeth Edwards====
On June 26, 2007, conservative commentator [[Ann Coulter]] was the guest when [[Elizabeth Edwards]], wife of then-Democratic presidential candidate [[John Edwards]], made a surprise (per Coulter, afterwards) call to the program. Coulter had made a speech days earlier in which she said, "I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, but it turns out you have to go into rehab if you use the word 'faggot'."<ref>{{Cite news | title = Coulter under fire for anti-gay slur | newspaper = [[CNN]]| date = March 4, 2007| url = http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/03/04/coulter.edwards/index.html| access-date = February 25, 2010| quote = I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate, John Edwards, but it turns out that you have to go into rehab if you use the word 'faggot,' so I'm - so, kind of at an impasse, can't really talk about Edwards}}</ref> Elizabeth Edwards confronted Coulter about the comment, as well as other comments Coulter had made accusing John Edwards of exploiting his son's death for political gain. Edwards asked Coulter to "stop the personal attacks" and accused her of "lowering the political dialogue" in America. Coulter responded that Edwards' complaints were an attempt to raise money for the presidential campaign, and questioned why the candidate himself was not making the call.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070629114716/http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/06/26/236484.aspx Elizabeth Edwards vs. Ann Coulter - First Read] MSNBC.com</ref>

====Kevin James====
On May 15, 2008, Matthews had a confrontation with radio broadcaster [[Kevin James (broadcaster)|Kevin James]] when he appeared on the show. At issue was a controversial speech made by President [[George W. Bush]] in Israel, where he appeared to claim that statements made by United States presidential candidate Barack Obama were tantamount to [[Neville Chamberlain]]'s actions of "Nazi [[appeasement]]" in 1938. James agreed with the notion that Obama's positions were like Chamberlain's policy of appeasement but was unable to elaborate on what exactly Chamberlain did.<ref>[https://www.nbcnews.com/id/21134540 Video Clip Appearance] from NBC News's ''Hardball'' depicting Chris Matthews with Kevin James</ref>