Matthews Compares Newsom to Executed Civil War Abolitionist, Says America Now ‘Half-Slave’

Chris Matthews Compares Gavin Newsom to Executed Civil War-Era Abolitionist, America Is Now 'Half Slave' (NewsBusters)

Though Chris Matthews was happy with Wednesday's Supreme Court rulings in support of gay marriage, the liberal host still used hyperbolic rhetoric to describe the state of the country and the Democratic Lieutenant Governor of California. Talking to Gavin Newsom, Matthews praised the politician, comparing him to an executed Civil War abolitionist: "In effect, you were sort of like John Brown or something back in the Civil War days- pre- Civil War days."

Brown lead an armed insurrection against the institution of slavery. He was tried and hanged. It's hard to compare Newsom's political actions in support of gay rights to that. Later, Matthews wondered about states that still ban same-sex marriage. He sneered, "What are we going to do if we have a country that ends up being divided this way, like almost like half slave and half free?"