Media Matters for America Bestows "Misinformer of the Year" Award on Chris Matthews

Host of MSNBC's Hardball Played Softball With Bush in 2005 and Distorted Facts on National TV

December 23, 2005 (Washington, DC) -- Media Matters for America today announced the winner of its 2005 "Misinformer of the Year" award. After much deliberation and a thorough -- and somewhat painful -- review of the many distortions, false statements, and instances of misinformation we have corrected during the year, MSNBC's Chris Matthews takes home the prize.

In 2005, Matthews called the majority of his fellow Americans "real whack-jobs"; praised a speech by President Bush as "brilliant" even before it was delivered; said that Bush sometimes "glimmers" with "sunny nobility"; and gushed at having his picture taken with the president, adding that Bush "belongs on Mount Rushmore." Matthews made false claims about Democrats, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, Iraqi elections, Catholics, and the Iraqi insurgency, and he derided people with sneering insults, calling them "witchy" and "thimble-wit[s]."

"Last year, we named Bill O'Reilly the 'Misinformer of the Year.' O'Reilly remained true to his roots and continued to spread conservative misinformation in 2005," said David Brock, President and CEO of Media Matters. "However, Chris Matthews is viewed by many as a trustworthy source of information, which makes his egregious statements and inaccuracies even more astonishing. We will continue to monitor Matthews's shows and point out every instance of conservative misinformation."

Matthews -- host of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews and NBC's syndicated program The Chris Matthews Show -- is a former presidential speechwriter and congressional staffer, a best-selling author, and recipient of The Washington Post's "Crystal Ball" award for his successful predictions of U.S. presidential elections. In addition, he can now claim the title of 2005 "Misinformer of the Year."

We've compiled a list of some of his most outrageous, false, and misleading claims of 2005. Without further ado, let's play hardball:

• Chris ♥ George. Matthews has routinely expressed his admiration for President Bush, calling a Bush speech "brilliant" even before it was given and accusing those who dislike the president of being "whack-jobs"; he also said that Bush sometimes "glimmers" with "sunny nobility"; and, recounting his experience at a White House party, Matthews said Bush "belongs on Mount Rushmore."
• Matthews's panels consistently skew to the right. Matthews has hosted numerous MSNBC panels that contained far more conservative commentators than progressives. In 2005, the trend was especially prevalent during MSNBC's presidential inauguration coverage; and both before and after Bush's State of the Union address. While moderating discussion panels on Hardball, Matthews has repeatedly emphasized the liberal allegiances of progressive guests, while failing to note that other guests on the same panel were Republican.
• Matthews falsely claimed Democrats accused Alito of being "lenient on the mob." During MSNBC's coverage of the nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the Supreme Court, Matthews repeatedly misrepresented a document about Alito that was circulated by Democrats. Waving the document around on camera -- but not quoting directly from it -- Matthews falsely claimed that it accused Alito of being "lenient on the mob" and made the baseless assertion that, by mentioning a case involving organized crime, Democrats were "go[ing] after [Alito's Italian] ethnicity." In fact, the document, available here, made no mention of Alito's ethnicity and simply noted that he lost a high-profile mob case -- not that he was "lenient" on anybody. [Hardball, 10/31/05]

• Matthews falsely attacked Wilson over Niger trip's genesis. Matthews falsely accused former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV of claiming during his July 6 Meet the Press appearance and in his July 6 New York Times op-ed that Vice President Dick Cheney had sent him on his February 2002 trip to investigate whether Iraq had tried to acquire uranium from Niger. In fact, Wilson never made such a claim in either his Times op-ed or his appearance on Meet the Press. Wilson wrote in his Times op-ed that CIA officials, not the vice president, asked him to go to Niger; discussing his op-ed on Meet the Press, Wilson said that the "the question [of Iraq seeking uranium from Niger] was asked of the CIA by the office of the vice president." [The Chris Matthews Show, 7/24/05]

• Matthews made false claim about January Iraqi election. In praising the Iraqi election in January, Matthews falsely claimed that no insurgent attacks had occurred at polling places on election day. In fact, attacks on Iraqi polling places were widely reported during the January 30 elections. [Hardball, 1/31/05]

• Matthews distorted poll data to claim Catholics are increasingly Republican. Matthews cherry-picked poll data to support his misleading claim that Catholics have voted increasingly Republican since 1960. In fact, exit poll data indicate that Catholics are a swing constituency: In every presidential election since 1980, a majority or plurality of Catholics have voted for the candidate who won the popular vote, including Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996 and Al Gore in 2000. [The Chris Matthews Show, 4/10/05]

###