MSNBC’s Chris Matthews Apologizes to Bernie Sanders for Comparing His Caucus Win to Nazi Victory

“Congratulations, by the way, to you, Senator Sanders, and to your supporters on a tremendous win down in Nevada,” he added

Chris Matthews
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MSNBC’s Chris Matthews addressed viral comments he made about Sen. Bernie Sanders over the weekend during his show on Monday, apologizing directly to the senator.

“Senator Sanders, I’m sorry for comparing anything from that tragic era in which so many suffered — especially the Jewish people — to an electoral result in which you were the well-deserved winner,” said the “Hardball” host. “This is going to be a hard-fought, heated campaign of ideas and in the days and weeks and months ahead I will strive to do a better job myself of elevating the political discussion.”

“Congratulations, by the way, to you, Senator Sanders, and to your supporters on a tremendous win down in Nevada,” he added.

Matthews faced intense criticism after he compared Sanders’ strong performance in the Nevada caucus on Saturday to France falling to Nazi Germany in 1940.

Shortly before the Vermont senator was declared the winner of the Nevada caucus, Matthews said that it was clear that Sanders had emerged the Democratic frontrunner and that the race for the White House is “pretty much over.”

“I was reading last night about the fall of France in the summer of 1940, and the general, Renault, 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,’” Matthews said at the time. “So I had that suppressed feeling. I can’t be as wild as [James] Carville, but he is damn smart, but I think he’s right on this one.”

Earlier in the day, Carville said on MSNBC that the media is not doing enough to sufficiently make voters aware of the “risks” of a Sanders victory and likewise declared Sanders a clear frontrunner.

Pro-Sanders activists for the Twitter account “People for Bernie” posted video of Matthews apology and thanked him for his contrite words.

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