“Hardball” host Chris Matthews surprised everyone when he abruptly announced during Monday’s episode of his MSNBC show that he is retiring from the program that he’s hosted since 1997.
On Tuesday’s episode of “Morning Joe,” hosts Joe Scarborough And Mika Brzezinski addressed the surprising news from the night before.
“All too human?” Scarborough asked. “Yeah, I guess so but those of us still playing or reporting on the hardball of politics could stand a bit more of this humanity these days. Even if it sometimes reveals our flaw, exposes our weaknesses and, yes, even shows our blind spots. Chris gave us his all every night and that’s why were were wiping tears from our eyes last night and why we’re going to miss him terribly tonight and every night when 7 o’clock rolls around. Thank you Chris for all you’ve done.”
“As a woman I want to say this — I loved working with Chris Matthews,” Brzezinski said. “I really enjoyed being his colleague. I understand the important changes around this so-called cancel culture – they’re important, they’re hard, they’re painful and in many cases they are necessary.
“I do wonder at this point though, as we move forward and we look at this and what happened here, if there might be a better way for all of us in the future where we work through this and get to a better place,” she continued. “But for now I’ll just say I’ll miss him every night at 7 p.m., but I remain his friend.”
“Let me start with my headline tonight. I’m retiring. This the last Hardball on MSNBC and obviously, this isn’t for lack of interest in politics,” Matthews said at the top of the show on Monday night.
He continued, “As you can tell, I’ve loved every minute of my 20 years as the host of Hardball. Every morning, I read the papers, and I’m gung ho to get to work. Not many people have had this privilege. I love working with my producers, and the discussions we have over how to report the news, and I love having this connection with you, the good people who watch.”
“I’ve learned who you are, bumping into you on the sidewalk, or waiting in an airport and saying hello; you’re like me. I hear it from your kids and grandchildren who say, ‘my dad loves you, or my grandmother loves you, or my husband watched it till the end.
“After conversation with MSNBC, I decided tonight will be my last Hardball, so let me tell you why. The younger generations out there are ready to take the reins. We see them in politics, in the media, and fighting for their causes. They’re improving the workplace. We’re talking here about better standards than we grew up, with fair standards.
“A lot of it has to do with how we talk to each other. Compliments on a woman’s appearance that some men, including me, might have once incorrectly thought were okay, were never okay. Not then, and certainly not today, and for making such comments in the past, I’m sorry.”
