MSNBC’s Chris Matthews made no effort Tuesday to hide his disdain for President Trump when he admitted it was difficult to call him by his proper title.
Rep. Eric Swalwell of California appeared on “Hardball” this week to discuss Mr. Trump’s accusations that his hotel was wiretapped by the Obama administration. The Democrat, a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said there was “no evidence” that intelligence agencies were monitoring Mr. Trump’s campaign before the MSNBC host disclosed his problem.
“Well, Trump is president of the United States,” Mr. Matthews said, the Washington Free Beacon reported. “I have a hard time actually calling him President Trump right now because when he gets up at dawn and starts tweeting that doesn’t seem like an official statement from a president. It strikes me as the guy who used to say that Obama was an illegal immigrant or that [Texas Sen.] Ted Cruz’s father killed Kennedy. It seems like that guy — like he’s some blogger.”
“He’s that armchair uncle after Thanksgiving dinner whose just letting his unfounded opinions fly,” Rep. Swalwell responded.
Pundits have repeatedly chastised Mr. Trump since he tweeted the following on March 4: “How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!”
Radio host Mark Levin, who served as a chief of staff for Attorney General Edwin Meese during the Reagan administration, has repeatedly asked why many of the pundits who say Mr. Trump has no evidence also discussed reporting by The New York Times and others in January on intercepted communications between Russian officials and associates of Mr. Trump.
“It is not clear whether the intercepted communications had anything to do with Mr. Trump’s campaign, or Mr. Trump himself,” The Times reported Jan. 19. “It is also unclear whether the inquiry has anything to do with an investigation into the hacking of the Democratic National Committee’s computers and other attempts to disrupt the elections in November.”
“We know that if a FISA warrant [against Trump’s campaign] was secured, it’s very likely … the president would be given a heads up,” Mr. Levin told Fox New Channel’s Sean Hannity Monday. “I assume Obama knew something. I mean, unless he’s Helen Keller.”
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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