2012 Presidential Election

Only two days after admitting that Barack Obama has a problem with his “frightening” birth control decision, Chris Matthews on Thursday was back on offense. He berated Rick Santorum as a “theocrat” and knocked Reverend Franklin Graham as a “disgrace.” The Hardball host singled out Family Research Council President Tony Perkins as the representative of all those who would question Obama's faith. Matthews interrogated, ” Tony, do you think this president is a Muslim?” He added, “Why [do] your people” make such allegations? An exasperated Perkins replied, “no” and shot back, “My people?…The things that we have said have always been about the President's policies. That's what we can clearly analyze. I don't know what's in a man's heart.” Matthews sought to draw a distinction between Obama and Santorum, mocking, “Tony, there's a big difference…between being a theocrat and believing a president should impose his religious believes and someone who is anti-religious.” The liberal anchor brought up Santorum's 2005 speech on the Senate floor about the Terri Schiavo: “Don't you think that's verging on more theocracy in this country than the French Revolution?” Matthews previously smeared Rick Santorumon on January 5, 2012 , saying that the former senator wants a “theocracy” that will “trump the Constitution.”