On the February 25 edition of the NBC-syndicated Chris Matthews Show, during a discussion of presidential candidate and former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC), host Chris Matthews said to roundtable guest Jim Cramer, host of CNBC's Mad Money, “You don't like [Edwards] because he's against free trade,” to which Cramer replied, “He's a tort lawyer for heaven's sake. He's a -- that's the equivalent on Wall Street of -- he's [Russian communist leader Leon] Trotsky."
Cramer's comment is the latest in a series of statements in recent weeks by reporters and pundits attempting to link Democratic presidential candidates to communism. As Media Matters for America previously noted, in a February 21 guest commentary for the website InsightMag.com, Joseph Beaudoin, described by the website as an “author and former investment banker,” said Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) is “red as in Lenin.” Also, while reporting on a Clinton speech on the February 2 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume, Fox News chief political correspondent Carl Cameron said that Clinton's “pledge to take oil company profits and put them into an energy fund” is “an idea not likely to go over well with capitalists.”
From the February 25 edition of the NBC-syndicated Chris Matthews Show:
CHRIS MATTHEWS (host): Well, we put it to the Matthews Meter, by the way -- 12 of our regular panelists. Do the Democrats need an economic downturn to win in '08, like previous parties did to get into power? By a unanimous vote, the meter says no. Norah, you're with the majority. The Democrats don't need bad times to win next year.
NORAH O'DONNELL (MSNBC chief Washington correspondent): No. I think that, ultimately, what voters are going to cast their vote for, who they're going to elect, has to do -- what gut values appeal to them on the candidate. Is it someone who talks about community, integrity, all those sorts of issues, and when it comes to an economic message, does it seem like someone who connects with you? Those are just sort of gut values things, and those are becoming more and more important, not only in politics, but in business, in advertising, et cetera. We've seen the research on that.
MATTHEWS: Edwards is trying the hardest to connect with people. Is it working?
O'DONNELL: But some people would say that message only connects with --
MATTHEWS: You don't like him because he's against free trade.
CRAMER: He's a tort lawyer, for heaven's sake. He's a -- that's the equivalent on Wall Street of -- he's Trotsky.
MATTHEWS: Who has a good message out there, of the Democrats?
CRAMER: Of the Democrats, who has a good message? You know, Hillary probably has the safest message because her husband was great for Wall Street --
MATTHEWS: For trade. He's for free trade.
CRAMER: Yes.