MSNBC’s Chris Matthews Facing Calls to Resign for Comparing Sanders’ Win to Nazi Invasion

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews is under fire and facing calls to resign after an instance where he compared Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) win in Nevada to the French Nazi invasion in 1940.

“I was reading last night about the fall of France in the summer of 1940,” Matthews said during MSNBC’s live coverage of the caucuses on Saturday. “And the general, Reynaud, calls up Churchill and says, ‘It’s over.’ And Churchill says, ‘How can that be? You’ve got the greatest army in Europe. How can it be over?’ He said, ‘It’s over.'”

Critics of Matthews pounced on his statement on social media, especially since Sanders is Jewish and had relatives killed in the Holocaust.

Many of the critics who responded on social media were calling for the MSNBC host’s ouster.

Chris Matthews just compared Bernie Sanders, a Jewish man whose relatives were killed by the Nazis, to the Nazi army. He should be fired immediately. #FireChrisMatthews https://t.co/Z6irGFuXK4

— Krishan Patel (@IAmKrishanPatel) February 22, 2020

For once, I'm not being sarcastic here. I'm dead serious.

I'm really, really insulted by a major pundit on an allegedly liberal news network comparing a Jewish candidate's overwhelming caucus victory to the French losing a battle with the Nazis.

Get this lunatic off the air. https://t.co/HZXWl3ceS7

— Alex Kotch (@alexkotch) February 22, 2020

Chris Mathews has been generous to me on a number of occasions, even blurbing my book. However, his constant references to political violence and today Nazism to describe Bernie Sanders campaign is beyond the pale. @HardballChris must resign or be fired from @MSNBC.

— Arun Chaudhary (@ArunChaud) February 22, 2020

Matthews said in a recent broadcast that it is “a little late to stop” Sanders in a primary, predicting that he will win the nomination unless there is a shift in the race, and the GOP will “kill him.”

Even before that broadcast, Matthews has said he has not been happy with the Democratic 2020 field’s chances of defeating President Donald Trump in a general election.