Chris Matthews approvingly says 'I forgot he was black' of Obama's speech

Well, at least he didn't say President Obama doesn't speak with a Negro dialect. That phrase, of course, got Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) in hot water recently. 

Reid was apparently trying to be complimentary about Obama's fitness as a presidential candidate. Tonight  MSNBC commentator Chris Matthews, while assessing the State of the Union address, said Obama was a "post-racial" figure whose presence was no longer a surprise or novelty. "I forgot he was black tonight," he said. Check out the video for his remarks.

-- Steve Padilla

Click here for  Twitter alerts of each new Ticket item -- or follow us on Facebook.

Comments

[sam_mp]

Chris is a flaming liberal and a huge Obama supporter. I remember during the election campaign urging voters in his home state PA to give Obama a fair shot at winning. Yes I cringed when I heard him make that statement after SOTU address but he didn't mean what he said. You don't call some one unhygenic because he stepped on poo. Same thing here.

[Brian]

Kaleb... no, popular media is not going to eat him alive, because he's a liberal Democrat. They'd only eat him alive if he were a conservative or a Republican. He'll get a pass. If Glenn Beck had said it, he'd lose his show.

[Tina]

Okay, I am black and I don't get what he means. White people like to think that saying "I don't think of you as being black" is a compliment. Well, it isn't. It is part of who I am. To me it infers that there is something wrong with being black if you need to forget about it. If George Bush or Rush Limbaugh said this, there would be claims of racism.

[Bill]

Chris couldn't possibly shut up.

[Ellen]

I forgot Chris Matthews is a liberal - biased media talking head for a moment there...

Is it just me, or does the liberal (politically correct) side have a compulsion to point out one half of our President's race any chance they can? I guess it's because they have the umbrella of protection from the left that they can be excused for their vapid commentary.

[hedonist]

The blacks who run NBC will make him apologize on air for it. You watch!

[jONNY rEb]

Anyone who's been watching Chris Matthews knows he's being complimentary. For comparisons sake, if Jesse Jackson had been elected president, you'd never forget he was black.

Get real people. After years and generations of prejudice (from whites) and a procurring of generally unfit and unqualified candidates (from blacks), race is and should be a topic of discussion.

[DrZaius_H8s_U2]

What is really telling about this is that Matthews made that bizarre statement in the company of MSNBC's main left wing propagandist, Keith Olbermann and Olbermann just sat there with a big stink-eating grin on his face. Had that comment come from the lips of anyone on another network, especially Fox News, it would have made that person Olbermann's 'Worse Person In The World' or perhaps more likely, the lead story for several nights in a row. As it is, we'll never hear a peep from Olbermann about it because the only real 'Fixed News' (as he like to call Fox) is his own pathetic program that never gives an honest, unbiased appraisal of any subject and NEVER allows an opposing viewpoint be expressed.

[DrZaius_H8s_U2]

What is really telling about this is that Matthews made that bizarre statement in the company of MSNBC's main left wing propagandist, Keith Olbermann and Olbermann just sat there with a big stink-eating grin on his face. Had that comment come from the lips of anyone on another network, especially Fox News, it would have made that person Olbermann's 'Worse Person In The World' or perhaps more likely, the lead story for several nights in a row. As it is, we'll never hear a peep from Olbermann about it because the only real 'Fixed News' (as he like to call Fox) is his own pathetic program that never gives an honest, unbiased appraisal of any subject and NEVER allows an opposing viewpoint be expressed.

[The Front Line Opinion]

You know, it seems as though Chris Matthews is the one with racial hang-ups. As a Hispanic conservative, I believe that all men and women should be judged by the words they speak and ultimately by their actions. And the color tone of one's skin has nothing to do with either one of those things. Every conservative type I associate with, either like or dislike Pres. Obama because of his ACTIONS...NOT his ethnicity. In my humble opinion, Chris Matthews and people that think like him, are the the ones that have trouble with Pres. Obama being African American...AND IT SHOWS IN THEIR CANDID GAFFS.

[Hai Nguyen]

The transparency in Obama's skin color that Mathews commented on is apparently not that transparent if Mathews couldn't help himself from commenting on it. In other words, if Mathews really didn't see that he was black he wouldn't have mention that he was black.

[Shirley]

I believe Chris Matthews meant to say, "I forgot President Obama was white?"

[Durand]

Wow, another racist comment from another DNC racist goon. Why does this guy have a show again?

[Pat]

Of Chris, I almost forgot he is an idiot!

[Amanda]

All everyone keeps saying is black this, black that, what people fail to realize is that he came out of a white vagina!!!!!! I am so sick of all this race talk, he is multi-racial not black!!!!!

[sam]

He knew what he was saying. White people make statements like this because they know it will get them attention.

[Tara]

This dovetails nicely with what Gustavo, Exec. Dir. of CASA de Maryland said at the 'immigration reform' rally: "Finally, we have a president who looks like us"! I'm confused: Is Obama Black/White/Hispanic? naaah.

[Jim]

This matthews clown is as dumb as they come. Can't he understand that not all of us are not in love with obama? We don't do a nasty down our leg when we hear him speak. He seems to adore him just because he is black. To me that's racist, I only speak for myself but I hate obamas white half just as much as his black. I was raised to stand on my own, support myself and family. The socialist crap is best left for Hugo and France. It won't work in the USA because I don't think I am alone in my views!

[Carol]

I believe he is half black and also half white. His color will have nothing to do with the next election; what will matter is our economic condition.

[Roland Harvey]

"For a minute there Matthews I thought you sounded black". That makes as much sense as your ridiculous statement. But maybe it does make sense to a brain dead member of the liberal media.

[sammy]

Uh, maybe he just meant, I didn't think about race for an hour, and isn't that great. I didn't judge him by the color of his skin, but by the nature of his soul. Kind of like what MLK hoped for. And it lasted an hour. That's progress, not something that should be criticized.

[MC]

The President is NOT black ... he is half black, and half white. He is a person. PERIOD! Enough with the stupid race garbage. Chris Matthews is an idiot.

[Bossy boss]

Lefties are idiots. Matthews personifies that. Change the channel. He's got the IQ of a grape.

[Mary]

Uh, correction. HALF-black. And, when it's convenient.

[RJS]

Every time Chris Matthews opens his mouth, STUPID FLOWS OUT , He has stupid al over himself. Good this proves why he has a good firmgrip on his time slot and won't be giving it up in the future.

[andrew nelson]

Ah. What the hell. Forget post-racial politics. Let's just skip to post-post racial politics. Instead of denying there is a racial difference, let's go the other way. We can label each person by their stereotyped characteristics and abilities, and then that's the job they get. White guys don't get to play basketball. Black guys don't get to hold office or run corporations. But people who are the product of inter racial relationships just get assigned two sets of abilities, and a broader range to choose from. Then everyone has to make it a point to have a long line proven line of more and more racial types in their family tree, in order to expand their opportunities. So, the fact that Obama has a black father and white mother simply means he gets to run the country and play basketball at the same time.

[vol1805]

CM is an absolute idiot and I wonder about those who even waste their time listening to him. Why do they even keep him..it can't be because of his popularity

[bandit]

Matthews meant that for an hour he got over his racist hangups and accepted Obama as an individual.

[Randy L.]

That means the rest of the time he considers him black.

What hypocrisy.

Why say anything about his race at all? It should be irrelevant.

[Angela]

I don't see a racist comment here. Chris Matthews grew up in a time when the color of your skin, literally meant everything. Everything from what school you attended to what sort of work you could do with few exceptions. It was a time when children were lovingly taught to notice what color a person was and treat them accordingly. He grew up in Pennsylvania which even today is hardly colorblind. As I saw it he was saying this is the sort of speech that caused you to pay attention to the content and not notice much else. OK it wasn't politically correct to say you ever notice what color a person is. But considering how noticing just that has been woven into the US history since before the Constitution was written, as part of the Constitution, and to greater and lesser amounts ever since, no big deal. It was honest and pretending America has become un-noticing of color all of a sudden doesn't make it so. To some extent Chris was saying this is an exceptional man who during thes speech caused me to overlook the very thing that defined my youth.

[salt with that foot]

Chris Matthews on-air clarifying the clarification: “boy did i blow it with the whole i forgot he was black thing…but damn that Michelle — baby got back! sorry…i mean large protruding buttocks meat? no, no, phat ass…that’s it right?

MSNBC producers: *hugh sighs* “whatever Chris” we’re all post-racial now…

[Desmas M]

We heard about this in class today. One student said "Well, yeah look at the era he(Chris) came from." At first it seemed as though the student was saying that what was said was justified because of where he came from, but I don't think that that was his intent. In no context is "I forgot he was black." okay. Whether intended to be a compliment(I can't see how) or not. Ignorance breeds more ignorance. We as a culture have to get over our ethnocentrism. Our country is destined to be doomed with our minds so closed and so much hate in our hearts.