Ahead of the 2020 election, Joe Biden infamously told an entire race of Americans that they must blindly vote for him in order to consider themselves a member of that community:
Biden: Now more than ever, we need a president who will choose to unite rather than divide
Black people: Great. Let’s discuss policies that center and support Black people and-
Biden: You’re not Black#YouAintBlack #JoeBidenIsARacistpic.twitter.com/YyTTyLpNco
— Jax
(@Jaxlzz) May 22, 2020
Fast forward a few years, though, and MSNBC personality Chris Matthews is now trying to make the argument that President Donald Trump is the one telling his supporters “what to think.”
And he made his threadbare argument with a nonsensical reference to a popular long-running children’s TV show, as Breitbart reported:
Matthews said, “He’s questioning the separation of powers, and he’s questioning whether a judge has a right to be a judge. Clearly, he’s teaching again, as I said the other day. He’s always teaching. He’s always got a Sesame Street-thing going. Teaching the MAGA people what to think. They all hate this judge now. That’s what he wants to do, the MAGA people. And they’re the ones the senators are afraid of and the Congress people are afraid of are the MAGA people because they go to the meetings and they cause hell. And they sometimes agree with Trump, but mostly they do what he wants and they do what they see him doing.”
While it was unclear what any of his rant had to do with “Sesame Street,” critics were nonetheless quick to point out the absurdity of his underlying claim:
dems spent the last four years attacking judges. they had a guy show up to kill kavanaugh. AOC said that biden shoudl ignore the courts. was that teaching dems what to think or no?
— sh0nuff (@sh0nuff85) March 19, 2025
msnbc is a literal democrat propaganda outlet
— Neil Diamond Hands (@BGray8ful) March 19, 2025
Per Mediaite:
Matthews also cited Trump’s recent heated confrontation with Zelensky at the White House where the two argued in front of cameras, and Trump told Zelensky to be “more grateful.”
Trump, Matthews said, “trashes” Judge James Boasberg just like he “trashes” Zelensky. To the MAGA base, Matthews added, Zelensky is the “bad guy” while Russian President Vladimir Putin is the “good guy.”
“[Zelensky’s] the bad guy. The good guy is Putin, the guy [Trump] cuddles up to every night,” he said.
Of course, Matthews is no stranger to launching ad hominem attacks at Trump, as Fox News reported just days after Trump’s first inauguration in 2017:
