MSNBC "Hardball with Chris Matthews" - Transcript: Behavior of the Republican Party
Interview
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Chris Van Hollen was on the floor. He`s a congressman from Maryland. I assume he saw the one we did.
Congressman, what is it about the water up there on the Hill, where Republicans don`t talk like Republicans? They talk like crazy people, some, not all of them. Peter King didn`t walk out in a huff. Some of the normal ones didn`t walk out. But they`re talking about a left-wing radical -- I thought that was the most mild-mannered -- it was certainly mild in its presentation.
It was center-left. It was a reasonably pro-government agenda, do some things to get some things done to add to opportunity, not a safety net, nothing for poor people, just people that want to work. Where was the radicalism in it last night? I don`t know where it was.
REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D), MARYLAND: Well, there wasn`t any, Chris.
And, look, this president could come before the House of Representatives, before the Congress and say, let`s cheer for mom, apple pie, and baseball, and House Republicans would say it was part of a socialist conspiracy.
And the strange thing is the same people then turn around and say, why won`t the president work with us, when anything the president proposes they immediately oppose.
So, look, the president put forward a very straightforward agenda when it comes to specific actions on jobs and the economy. And he said to Congress, I`d like to work with you, but if you refuse, there are areas where I do have executive authority where I`m going to take action. We`re not going to have the country move as slow as the slowest boat. And that`s appropriate.
MATTHEWS: Well, the president paid tribute the last night, as we all saw, that dramatic moment when he paid tribute to Army Ranger Cory Remsburg who was severely wounded by a roadside bomb over in Afghanistan. Let`s watch that moment.
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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Cory is here tonight. And like the Army he loves, like the America he serves, Sergeant First Class Cory Remsburg never gives up and he does not quit.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEWS: Well, that got a two-minute standing ovation as it should have from the American people in that chamber. They were all Americans. I think that was great.
And then Huelskamp -- anyway, the president went on to say men and women like Cory remind us why we fight for the America we want for our kids. That moment was widely viewed as one of the most inspiring of the night, but in the alternative world speech of Tim Huelskamp, he was watching, and the reality was much more cynical. He said he tweeted, quote, "Obama politicizes the military to end his speech, totally expected, Mr. President."
Now, this is a thing about politics that turns people off left, right and center. Everyone knows that Huelskamp, a Republican, if a Republican president`s done the exact same thing, he would have said it was great.
VAN HOLLEN: Well, that`s right. Look, there`s some people, Chris, who just came into the chamber determined to tear the president down no matter what. It`s a sad state of affairs. And it`s the reason it`s so difficult for the president to work with Congress to get stuff done. And there`s no wonder that the American Congress is at about 9 percent in American public opinion down there with cockroaches and other creatures.
So, as long as they keep doing this, the problem is it tears down the whole institution in so many ways. They don`t seem to care. That seems to be the objective. They think if they make these statements, they`ll tear down the whole of the government. And as you pointed out many times, they`ve got an anti-government agenda to begin with.
MATTHEWS: Yes, I know.
VAN HOLLEN: As you say, the cynical part about this is there was a moment where everybody was rallied around and yet, there were some of those people who were just determined to play a cynical card.
MATTHEWS: Thank you so much. U.S. Congressman Chris Van Hollen of Maryland.
VAN HOLLEN: Thank you.
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