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MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews.
- MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews compared Sanders' victory in Nevada to the Nazi invasion of France on Saturday.
- It sparked calls for his resignation as the hashtag #FireChrisMatthews trended on Twitter.
- Matthew's comments come less than two weeks after MSNBC host Chuck Todd quoted a conservative column on air that likened supporters to "brownshirts."
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MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews compared the victory of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders in the Nevada caucus to the Nazi invasion of France, triggering calls for his resignation on social media on Sunday.
The hashtag '#FireChrisMatthews' trended on Twitter after Matthews made the analogy on air Saturday, saying it represented a disaster for the Democratic Party.
"I was reading last night about the fall of France in the summer of 1940," Matthews said during MSNBC's live coverage of the caucuses on Saturday. "And the general, Reynaud, calls up Churchill and says, 'It's over.' And Churchill says, 'How can that be? You've got the greatest army in Europe. How can it be over?' He said, 'It's over.' So I had that suppressed feeling."
Other MSNBC contributors like James Carville joined in the freakout over Sanders' victory, saying it was due in part to reported Russian interference in the election, according to Business Insider's Eliza Relman. The Vermont senator has long argued that "mainstream" media coverage is biased against him.
The comparison to the Nazi victory over France sparked an onslaught of criticism on Twitter calling for the host of MSNBC's Hardball to be fired.
Several users noted that Sanders, who is Jewish, had family members killed in the Holocaust:
Criticism also came from the Sanders campaign's communications director Mike Casca.
"Never thought part of my job would be pleading with a national news network to stop likening the campaign of a jewish presidential candidate whose family was wiped out by the nazis to the third reich," Casca tweeted. "But here we are."
Others like MSNBC political analyst and journalist Anand Giridharadas called for the media to be more introspective and even-keeled in its analysis of political events:
"Why is Chris Matthews on this air talking about the victory [of] Bernie Sanders, who had kin murdered in the Holocaust, and analogizing it to the Nazi conquest of France? " Giridharadas said. "The people who are stuck in an old way of thinking... are missing what is happening."
The Sanders campaign and MSNBC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The remarks from Matthews come only less than two weeks after MSNBC host Chuck Todd cited a conservative column on air that likened Sanders' online supporters to "brown shirts." That also sparked calls for his resignation with the hashtag #FireChuckTodd, Newsweek reported.
MSNBC's Chris Matthews likens Sanders victory in Nevada to Nazi Germany overrunning France in 1940: "It's too late to stop him … it's over" pic.twitter.com/6GJetLoDkq
- Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) February 22, 2020This is where Heather Heyer was killed by an actual Nazi in 2017 in Charlottesville. There are real Nazis today. Bernie is Jewish and his family was also killed by actual Nazis. #FireChrisMathews, #FireChuckTodd and anyone one who can't tell the difference. pic.twitter.com/8uep7qLi6g
- Michele Gray (@mgrayrose) February 23, 2020never thought part of my job would be pleading with a national news network to stop likening the campaign of a jewish presidential candidate whose family was wiped out by the nazis to the third reich.
but here we are. https://t.co/2G1bqZ6bkI
- mike casca (@cascamike) February 22, 2020I needed to speak truth about my colleague @HardballChris.
You simply cannot compare the victory of Bernie Sanders, whose kin was murdered in the Holocaust, to the Nazi defeat of France.
This is a moment in media to grow and become curious or irrelevant. pic.twitter.com/tr2jpTD7YY
- Anand Giridharadas (@AnandWrites) February 23, 2020