Chris Matthews, the veteran political anchor and voluble host of the long-running MSNBC talk show “Hardball,” resigned on Monday night, an abrupt departure from a television perch that made him a fixture of politics and the news media over the past quarter-century.
Mr. Matthews, 74, has faced mounting criticism in recent days over a spate of embarrassing on-air moments, including a comparison of Senator Bernie Sanders’s campaign to the Nazi invasion of France and an interview with Senator Elizabeth Warren in which the anchor was criticized for a condescending and disbelieving tone.
On Saturday, the journalist Laura Bassett wrote on the website of GQ magazine that Mr. Matthews made inappropriate comments about her appearance in the makeup room of his studio on several occasions when she was a guest on his program.
On Monday, a solemn Mr. Matthews began his usual 7 p.m. broadcast and announced to his viewers, “I’m retiring — this is the last ‘Hardball’ on MSNBC.”
