Chris Matthews Argues Epstein’s Rich Politician Friends Probably Just Liked Private Planes, Not Sex Slaves Per Se
MSNBC’s Chris Matthews offered a rather unusual defense of rich politicians like Bill Clinton and Donald Trump who socialized with dead probable human trafficker and rapist Jeffrey Epstein: they like private planes.
The long Hardball segment on Epstein’s suicide covered his death, the theories about how it could have happened, the “chutzpah” of Trump to talk about Clinton’s association, given his own, and the attendant issues with MSNBC legal analyst Paul Butler and Vanity Fair’s Vanessa Grigoriadis. They decried Trump’s theorizing about Clinton, and also theorized that Trump and Attorney General William Barr “facilitated” Epstein’s suicide.
But one take offered by Matthews was particularly unusual.
“One thing culturally that goes on in politics that I find really dismaying: politicians need money. A lot of them aren’t that wealthy. They live on their salaries. A hundred and a half a year, they’re not crying, but they love travel and private planes. They to get around for their professional and political reasons,” said Matthews. “They’ve become friends with the wrong frickin’ people. And these people are frightening and they want something, they want the prestige of hanging around a politician.”
“These relationships are awful, the names that have come out. I don’t want to use their names tonight. Why do these guys know a guy like this guy Epstein? Why do you want to know him?” he asked Butler.
It’s more than just the implied absolution, it’s the fact that he declines to say names, he paints them almost as victims. The poor politician is so poor he needs to hang around with pedophiles just to get a few private plane rides. Woe is us!
Liberal writer Naomi LaChance noticed, and both tweeted about it and wrote an article.
I’ve heard a lot of dumb excuses for men in my day but here’s a Chris Matthews suggesting politicians flew on the Lolita Express because they couldn’t afford their own private jets!!!!!!! https://t.co/EoiUJxpWX6
— NO MISOGYNISTS ALLOWED (@lachancenaomi) August 14, 2019
LaChance wrote:
It’s extremely embarrassing for MSNBC that Matthews likes politicians so much he didn’t even want to report on the ones who are reportedly linked to an accused child rapist. It seems as though he’s in complete denial that some people in this world are violent abusers. Welcome to 2019, buttercup, that’s the world most of us are living in.
Besides, all three of these men—Trump, Clinton, and Gore—have been accused of inappropriate sexual conduct outside of the context of Jeffrey Epstein. (All three men denied the cumulative array of charges leveled against them.)
Amazed that Matthews couldn’t posit another theory as to why these men were acquainted with Epstein, LaChance said he “clearly knows one very clear possible answer and does not want to speak its name aloud.”
Ouch.
