Wrapping up MSNBC's Hardball on February 13, host Chris Matthews said Republicans were becoming "the party of Jefferson Davis."
“Someone should ask Reince Priebus, him being the leader of the Republican Party in this country, why his party is so compelled to deny people the right to vote. Wasn’t it Abraham Lincoln — who would run the risk of being called a Republican-In-Name-Only today — who won the Civil War so people, especially African Americans, could be regular voting citizens?...Doesn’t it [the Republican National Committee] have a responsibility, a moral responsibility, to tell the parties across the country that the party of Lincoln shouldn’t become the party of Jefferson Davis? Or is that where we’re headed? You tell us, Mr. Priebus.”