‘Free Beacon’ Montage: Chris Matthews Really Dislikes the Gitmo Deal

‘Aren’t these hardened terrorists who do terrorism for a living and for life?’

Chris Matthews Blasts Gitmo Deal (Washington Free Beacon)

MSNBC host Chris Matthews has made no secret of his dismay over the Obama administration’s release of five Taliban commanders to get backsuspected deserter Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, calling it “disreputable” and a “nasty deal” in the “Let Me Finish” portion of Hardball Wednesday.

“I have a strong disagreement with anyone who thinks we should normally release these people, as long as the war in Afghanistan continues, and we Americans have troops and diplomats in country, as we will after these five Taliban figures have gotten past the even limited detention they now face in Qatar,” he said. “To say this trade is messy is an understatement, which sadly does not mean it wasn’t the only deal there was. To get Sergeant Bergdahl released, we had to do something disreputable. It’s up to the partisan critics now, however, to say how they would have gotten this soldier home under less disgusting terms.”

Matthews also laid out the total control the Taliban seek over people’s lives in Afghanistan and their “24/7 regime on dress, food, sex, religion, life itself.”

“I have no direct information on how [Obama] made the decision on Bowe Bergdahl,” Matthews said. “What I do know is that the trade of prisoners was not the stuff of celebration. It was a nasty deal, one driven by our enemies. If we wanted our guy out alive, we had to release five of their killers.”

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