Chris Matthews did not expect this one, and his discomfort was evident. It stopped him cold from pursuing the subject.
This is how you shut up a pompous host
Bernie Sanders’ campaign manager played some Hardball with Chris Matthews, and it caught him off guard as he was forced to cease the questioning. The following exchange was uncomfortable for Matthews as he received some of his own medicine.
Chris Matthews: You said on the show the last time you were on you thought that Donald Trump certainly should show his returns cause it’s suspicious that he hasn’t done so. You also said you would give me a date when Senator Sanders would release his tax returns over the last several decades. Do you have a date yet?
Jeff Weaver: I don’t Chris, but I think we should follow the example perhaps of yourself when your wife was running for the Congress in Maryland recently. She didn’t, you guys didn’t release any tax returns. So I don’t really think you are one to be in the position of talking tax returns.
Chris Matthews: I don’t even know if we did returns, release tax returns. Did we? I had nothing to do with the campaign. So I would check. I will check. I’d be glad to check.
Jeff Weaver: Please do.
Chris Matthews: Michael, but you know that was certainly strange because I wasn’t involved in that campaign. And you know it. At all Jeffrey. At all.
Jeff Weaver: This is Hardball, Chris.
Chris Matthews: Yes. But I wasn’t involved. I am just like you know — I am not even Jane Sanders here. Anyway, thank you *** for that. I will give it some thought, but I wasn’t involved with that.
To be clear, I think Bernie Sanders should have released his tax returns if he was asking others to do the same. That said I get tired of moralizing hosts, journalists, and reporters who instead of sticking to policies of interest that affect us all, instead take a moralizing posture to promote some agenda. It is one of the reasons many had no love lost when Fox News’ Ed Henry was caught ‘with his pants down‘ in Las Vegas. It is none of our business. It is his personal life. But since they like to go there, they should expect blowback.