Smallscreen News

Chris Matthews interview on Leno, video

By April MacIntyre May 21, 2010, 5:28 GMT

Newsman Chris Matthews stopped by NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” (Monday-Friday, 11:35 p.m. ET) on Thursday, May 20. 

The “Hardball” host talked about the Gulf Oil Spill, the new Arizona immigration law and Rush Limbaugh and shared he couch with Chelsea Handler.

Leno began the interview by asking Matthews about the devastating Gulf disaster. “It’s the worst thing I’ve ever seen, you know, I don’t know where to start,” said Mathews.  “I mean, Halliburton, sound familiar?  Cheney was the head of Halliburton.  When he got to Vice President, the oil company gave him a $34 million signing bonus to become Vice President of the United States.”

Chris Matthews Talks About The Gulf Oil Spill

After joking around, Matthews got serious about how the President is handling the oil spill.  “The President scares me.  He’s been acting a little like a Vatican Observer here.  When is he actually going to do something?  And I worry; I know he doesn’t want to take ownership of it.  I know politics.  He said the minute he says, ‘I’m in charge,’ he takes the blame, but somebody has to.  It’s in our interest.”

When Leno asked his guest what he thought about Rush Limbaugh’s statement that the environmentalists can clean up the mess, Matthews said: “He would say that.  He’s a joke.  Rush Limbaugh is totally pro-industry, totally pro-business; he’s never said a word against offshore drilling in his entire life.  And for him to come out and blame the environmentalists, what a joke.”

In addition, Matthews told Leno what he thought about Arizona’s immigration laws.  “I’m looking at the polls and the people don’t like exactly the way Arizona did it, but they want something done.  And the problem is that we keep passing laws every 20-years they’re not enforcing.” 

He later continued: “I think you’re asking police officers in Arizona to enforce the law that business doesn’t want to enforce.  If you can get a job in this country and you’re poor living in Guatemala, so what stands between you and the jobs?  Not the employer, he’s ready to hire you.  It’s the cops.”