Media

Chris Matthews’ Comments During Nevada Caucuses Lead To Calls For Him To Be Fired

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MSNBC host Chris Matthews faced a virtual blitzkrieg of Twitter backlash after comparing Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders’ electoral success to France’s World War II defeat to Nazi Germany.

“I was reading last night about the fall of France in the summer of 1940,” Matthews said, reacting to Sanders’ then-likely Nevada Democratic caucus win during MSNBC’s Saturday election coverage. “And the general, Reynaud, calls up Churchill and says, ‘It’s over.’ And Churchill says, ‘How can it be? You’ve got the greatest army in Europe. How can it be over?’ He said, ‘It’s over.'”

Twitter reaction to Matthews’ mentioning of Nazi Germany when referring to a Jewish presidential candidate was fierce. Sanders campaign communications director Mike Casca pointed out that most of Sanders’ family “was wiped out by the Nazis.”

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That was only the tip of the proverbial iceberg, with many other criticisms following similar reasoning. Some even called for the MSNBC anchor to be fired.

Responding to someone who wrote that Matthews wasn’t actually comparing Sanders to Hitler, but rather using a historical analogy to make a point, journalist Yashar Ali pointed out that, though that was “probably true,” there was still “a million other ways” to do so without bringing up the holocaust. (RELATED: MSNBC’s Chris Matthews Predicts Electoral Disaster For Democrats Under Bernie Sanders)

Some conservatives weighed in as well, commenting on the ever-changing definition of “Nazi.”

Sanders won the Nevada caucuses overwhelmingly, garnering over 47 percent of the vote.