News organization The Intercept has looked into Chris Matthew’s MSNBC show “Hardball” and discovered that 48 frequent guests on the show have given money to his wife’s congressional campaign. In all, the guests have contributed nearly $80,000 dollars.
Kathleen Matthews announced her run for Congress in Maryland’s 8th district in June of 2015, and it is between now and then that these many guests have appeared on the show shortly before or after giving money to Matthews’s campaign.
Chris Matthews had previously assured his audience on MSNBC that he would keep his coverage of his wife “transparent and fair.” And yet, he is clearly doing favors and asking for favors from those who come onto his show. Is he trading television appearances for donations? Or maybe he is bringing on fans of his wife so that they can lead the conversation in her direction?
Either way, its hardly surprising given the tone change at MSNBC witnessed in recent years. Matthews is the kind of journalist who doesn’t try very hard to hide his biases. Which is fine, I suppose, except when he claims that he isn’t biased at all.
From the Intercept:
These individuals, their spouses or their political action committees donated $79,050 as of December 31, 2015 — about 5 percent of the $1.5 million Matthews had raised as of then.
Some of the guests made the donations after they were on the show – in some cases, long after. But in at least 11 of these cases, the “Hardball” guests appeared on the program after Kathleen Matthews announced her candidacy, and without any disclosure of the donations. And in at least three of those cases, the donations came within days of the MSNBC appearance.
Currently, none of the donating guests have had to disclose their contributions during interviews on MSNBC, working against Matthew’s claim of keeping things transparent and honest. This article is not a criticism of Kathleen Matthews’s campaign, but rather an examination of the way that MSNBC, yet again, has violated the trust of its viewership.
