Chris Matthews: Obama Is Bugs Bunny to McCain's Elmer Fudd

By Media Research Center
October 17, 2008

After playing an exchange from Wednesday night's presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain, Hardball host Chris Matthews thought he was watching an old "Looney Tunes" cartoon, as he chuckled: "Sometimes I think I'm watching Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd here." In this case Matthews believed McCain, in the role of Fudd, was being outwitted, once again, by that "wascally wabbit," Obama.

[This item, by the MRC's Geoffrey Dickens, was posted Thursday evening on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: www.newsbusters.org ]

And for those keeping track, Matthews has compared Obama to Mark Twain, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Lincoln and now Bugs Bunny.

The following occurred on the October 16 edition of Hardball:

     (BEGIN DEBATE CLIP)
     JOHN MCCAIN: Free trade with Colombia is something that's a no- brainer. But maybe you ought to travel down there and visit them and maybe you could understand it a lot better.
     BARACK OBAMA: Let me respond. Actually I understand it pretty well. The history in Colombia right now is that labor leaders have been targeted for assassination on a fairly consistent basis and there have not been prosecutions. And what I have said-
     (END DEBATE CLIP)

CHRIS MATTHEWS: Sometimes I think I'm watching Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd here. You know Bugs Bunny is driving him crazy. He's laughing, running away and Elmer just can't keep, can't keep, can't get his eyes off the guy. Anyway thank you Chuck Todd, thank you Norah O'Donnell. That was an old guy's reference point. Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd, okay!

To read about Matthews comparing Obama to Mark Twain: www.mrc.org

To read about Matthews comparing Obama to Martin Luther King Jr., and Abraham Lincoln: www.mrc.org