Chris Matthews Freaks Out About Socialism, Says He Might’ve Been Executed in Central Park if ‘Castro and the Reds’ Had Won Cold War

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews freaked out at the prospect of Bernie Sanders becoming the 2020 Democratic nominee, warning that his views of socialism go back to the 1950s and that he believes he might’ve been a victim of “executions in Central Park” if “[Fidel] Castro and the Reds” had won the Cold War.

During the network’s post-debate analysis, Matthews, keying off Sanders’ candidacy, began with a discussion of the political history of socialism. But then he pivoted to a bizarre, personal rant about the word “socialist” as fellow panelist Joy Reid grinned at him and then lowered her head chuckling.

“You know, I have my own views of the word socialist and I’ll be glad to tell them, share them with you in private,” Matthews said forcefully, right before sharing his views in public in an almost panicked, rat-a-tat-tat tone. “They go back to the early 1950s. I have an attitude about them. I remember the Cold War. I have an attitude towards Castro, and I believe if Castro and the Reds had won the Cold War, there would have been executions in Central Park and I might’ve been one of the ones executed and certain other people would be there cheering. So, I have a problem with people who took the other side.”

Matthews then turned his comments back to Sanders. “I don’t know who Bernie supports over these years. I don’t know what he means by socialism. One week it’s Den-mahk, we’re going to be like Den-mahk,” the MSNBC host said, lapsing into an impression of Sanders’ Brooklyn accent. “Ok, that’s harmless. That’s basically a capitalist country with a lot of good social programs. Den-mahk is harmless.”

“He’s clearly in the Denmark category,” Hayes gently pointed out.

“Is he?!” Matthews shot back.

“Yeah,” Hayes replied.

“How do you know? Did he tell you that?” Matthews pressed.

In fact, Sanders has routinely invoked Denmark and other Scandinavian countries in his speeches and plans as a model for the democratic socialist programs he envisions for the United States. “I think that countries like Denmark and Sweden do very well. I think it depends on what we mean by socialism. If we mean socialism is what the old Soviet Union was, that’s not my thing,” Sanders told an Iowa audience last year. “My view is that you have an economy in which you have wealth being created by the private sector, but you have a fair distribution of that wealth, and you make sure the most vulnerable people in this country are doing well.”

“That what he says and what his agenda calls for, right?” Hayes pointed out to Matthews, alluding to those past, on-the-record statements by Sanders.

“Let’s see, let’s see, let’s figure that one out.” a still skeptical and stern-faced Matthews replied.

Watch the video above, via MSNBC.