Chris Matthews stumped Hillary Clinton last night when he asked the Democratic front-runner to explain the difference between Democrats and socialists.
Clinton paused before beginning, ”Well you’d have to ask” — at which point Matthews interjected, “I’m asking you!”
“You’re a Democrat, he’s a socialist,” Matthews continued, referring to Sen. Bernie Sanders. ”Would you like somebody to call you a socialist? I wouldn’t like someone calling me a socialist.”
Clinton ducked the question again: ”I’m a progressive Democrat who likes to get things done and who believes we’re better off in this country when we’re trying to solve problems together.”
Matthews – who made some news when he stumped DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz using same question (twice) – then helpfully added he understands neither can answer because they need to keep the left-wing part of the Democratic base.
Here’s the full exchange:
MATTHEWS: Bernie calls himself a socialist. Nobody uses it as a derogatory term anymore. He loves to have that label. He’s never ran as a Democrat, he runs against Democrats up there in Vermont. You’re a Democrat. I would say you’re a pretty typical Democrat, in the traditional Democratic Party. Humphrey, the rest of them, Scoop, not even Scoop, Mondale, I would say you’re somewhere in there. What’s the difference between a Socialist and a Democrat?
CLINTON: Well, you’d have to –
MATTHEWS: Is that a question you want to answer or would you rather not?
CLINTON: Well, you would have to ask–
MATTHEWS: But I’m asking you. You’re a Democrat, he’s a socialist. Would you like somebody to call you a socialist? I wouldn’t like someone calling me a socialist.
CLINTON: But I’m not one.
MATTHEWS: Okay, well, what’s the difference between a socialist and a Democrat?
CLINTON: I can tell you what I am. I am a progressive Democrat.
MATTHEWS: How is that different than a socialist?
CLINTON: I’m a progressive Democrat who likes to get things done and who believes we’re better off in this country when we’re trying to solve problems together. Getting people to work together. There will always be strong feelings and I respect that, from, you know, the far right, the far left, libertarians, whoever it might be, but we need to get people working together. We’ve got to get the economy fixed, get all of our problems, you know, really tackled and that’s what I want to do.
MATTHEWS: I think the difference is — and Debbie Wasserman Schultz wouldn’t answer the question either when I asked her — because I know politically you have to keep together the center left and the left. I know all of that.