Chris Matthews on Hardball: The GOP has a ‘Love Affair with Anger’

Last night on Hardball, Chris Matthews hit the Republicans as a party that has “this love affair with anger.” In a panel discussion on the 2016 Republican race for the nomination, the MSNBC personality explained that part of Donald Trump’s appeal is that the Republicans are “an angry party.” Matthews thought it unlikely that the party in its current state could nominate an establishment figure like Jeb Bush. Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report disputed Matthews’s contention that the supposed anger coming from the Republican Party is a new phenomenon. She noted: “This isn't new. Trump didn't invent this anger. He didn't unleash it or unearth it. It’s been there since at least 2010. He's connected to it in the same way Marco Rubio connected to it in 2010, Cruz connected in 2012, and then what happened in 2014? The establishment said, uh-oh, we better connect to this.”