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CNN, The Intercept, NY Post

New Controversy at MSNBC: Cable Net Faces Call to Suspend One of Its Signature Shows

Mar 17, 2016  •  Post A Comment

A high-profile MSNBC host is at the center of a new controversy for the cable news channel, with a GOP congressional candidate calling for the suspension of Chris Matthews’ “Hardball” while Matthews’ wife, Kathleen Matthews, is running for Congress, CNN reports.

The report quotes Aryeh Shudofsky, who is running in the GOP primary for Maryland’s 8th Congressional District, saying: “Kathleen Matthews is a congressional candidate and is inappropriately benefiting from her husband’s position.”  Shudofsky cited reports indicating that guests on “Hardball” had contributed to Kathleen Matthews’ campaign.

Kathleen Matthews is running in the Democratic primary for the same office.

A report surfaced last week on The Intercept in which the website says it has identified “48 frequent guests of Matthews’ program who have made donations to the Kathleen Matthews for Congress campaign. 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 that time.”

The Intercept notes that Chris Matthews announced his wife’s candidacy on his show last June. At that time, the story reports, “Matthews enthusiastically endorsed his wife’s candidacy, and vowed to ‘offer Kathleen whatever help I can.’”

The MSNBC host vowed transparency at the time, saying he would continue to disclose his relationship with the candidate.

“But Matthews, who has made glowing references to Kathleen on his show without mentioning her campaign, hasn’t uttered a word about the contributions his 62-year-old wife has received from his TV guests,” the New York Post reports, adding: “The revelation is another black eye for NBC, which bounced Brian Williams as anchor of the network news last year and dispatched him to MSNBC after he fabricated details of stories he covered.”

hardball with chris matthews

4 Comments

  1. yeah if hizs wife is running for congress he needs to step down-that happened here.an anchors hubby was running and she stepped down. he won but was later busted for coke and stepped down.

  2. This is ridiculous. Was Andrea Mitchell thrown off of television because she was married to Alan Greenspan — probably the 2nd most powerful person in America as Fed Chairman? As long as Matthews doesn’t actively campaign for his wife he’s not doing anything wrong. And unless someone can prove a quid pro quo about guests on his show contributing to his wife’s campaign, there’s nothing to see here.

    Fox News gave shows to four or five active candidates for President over the past four years. No one asked for them to step down, or questioned whether guests on shows by Huckabee, et al were contributing to their campaigns.

    This is a double standard.

  3. Huckabee was not actively running for office when he had his show on Fox. He ended the show well before he announced he was running again.

  4. Huckabee wasALWAYS running for office. BUT–at Fox, ethics is NEVER an issue.

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