MSNBC’s Chris Matthews was called out by a guest panelist on Friday after suggesting that working for a tough campaign boss was comparable to slavery.
The “Hardball” host didn’t seem to take the hint, however.
Juanita Tolliver, campaign director for the Center for American Progress, appeared on Matthew’s show last week, during which the host asked her, “You’ve worked for politicians? I bet they all insist on slavery?”
“Come on, you are talking to a woman of color here alright,” Tolliver replied. “Nothing compares to what happened to my ancestors.”
Matthews responded by doubling down on his remark: ““I’m serious, some bosses are notoriously bad to people and they do humiliate their people.”
Tolliver argued that her experience was still “very short of slavery” and noted that while there are plenty of bad bosses out there, it’s been “nothing to the degree of what we see in the Trump administration where he’s actually creating this web where people get entrenched in it and can’t find a way out.”
Matthews then turned his attention to former president Lyndon Johnson, whom he said treated his staff “like slaves.”
“And the fact is, we didn’t hear about it until later,” he added.
Matthews’ tone deaf remark sparked a flurry of reactions from social media critics who took issue with the comparison.
“Chris gotta go…now!” one Twitter user wrote.
“Chris, I hope you apologized to your guest Juanita Tolliver for your ill conceived comments to a woman of color about being treated ‘like a slave,'” another chimed in.
One critic put it plainly: “Someone do this guy a favor and force him into retirement.”
Watch more in the clip below.
