Chris Matthews Tells Biden Staff To ‘Encourage the Guy’ More, Says He’d ‘Make Him Feel Better About Himself’
Former MSNBC host Chris Matthews believes President Joe Biden’s staff should be doing more to “encourage” and cheer the man up amid criticism and worries about his age and the presidential election barreling this way.
On Wednesday’s Morning Joe, Matthews offered a series of criticisms and pieces of advice for Democrats, including on the southern border. Though a border deal is being held up by House Republicans, Matthews argued voters still don’t see Democrats as particularly strong on the issue, saying most think they “turned on a dime” to score political points against Republicans hesitant to take bipartisan action while Biden is president.
“November’s a long way off and between now and then, the Democrats really have to show that they really wanted a deal [and] that they really wanted to deal with the issue of immigration,” the former Hardball host said.
Amid increasing criticism about Biden’s age and chances in a potential race against Donald Trump in November, Matthews advised a more actively campaigning president and a staff pushing positive reinforcement — even if he makes more public gaffes.
“Biden’s got to get out there and mix it up. He’s going to have to get on the corner and meet people and hang out with regular people and give some speeches and perk people up like Harry Truman did back in 1948. You got to sell! You got to sell yourself. He’s got to do it,” Matthews said. “Now he may make some problems along the way. He will make more gaffes, of course he will, but isn’t it better to have him out there? You know, if I’m in the back room with him, I’d make him feel better about himself. I’d be just nice to him and encouraging. That’s one thing staffers should do, encourage the guy, encourage him when he does something really well. He’s had a good couple of days, I think.”
An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll in August found nearly 70 percent of Democrats believe Biden is too old to be president at 81.
An NBC News poll released earlier this month also found twice as many voters believe Trump is more physically and mentally ready for the job, despite only being a few years younger than the current president at 77.
The cure for these worries, Matthews insisted, is Biden dealing with the public more because he has a “regular person” quality that he claimed Trump doesn’t have. He also pushed the president to lean into his age more and increase his humor about the subject when speaking with the public.
“You sit next to him on an Amtrak train, and you know you’re with a real human being, a real person, it’s really Joe Biden sitting next to you,” he said. “He’s a real person… I’m not sure if Trump is a real person in that way. He’s not really like a regular person that way.”
Watch clip above via MSNBC.
