A producer for MSNBC’s “Hardball With Chris Matthews” reportedly started a shoving match with a pair of GOP fans who where heckling Matthews.
Host Matthews was taping an outdoor portion of his show the evening Mitt Romney accepted his party’s nomination when a pair of hecklers started goading him about “tingles.”
Matthews claimed in 2008 that an Obama speech gave him a “thrill” up his leg and has received grief for the comment ever since — notably, Michele Bachmann on the night of 2010 midterm elections.
According to witnesses, the two men yelled out, “Hey Chris, how’s that tingle up your leg?” Others in the audience were laughing at Matthews when a producer for MSNBC came running up and pushed the two hecklers.
“Then this short dude who works for MSNBC pushed them,” said Toby David, who came to the defense of the two hecklers. Another witness, Kim Churchman, added, “One of them was smiling and didn’t know it was coming, and the guy just shoved him.”
Said David: “He kept pushing them around, so I rolled over there. And the MSNBC guy says, ‘You wanna get in trouble too?’ I said: ‘Who are you? A cop? If not, maybe I should make a call and we’ll see who’s in trouble.’ The MSNBC guy was just talking tough.”
The MSNBC employee that started the melee identified himself as a producer for Chris Matthews’ show but did not give his name.
Kim Churchman of Tampa also gave The Hollywood Reporter an eyewitness account of the shoving match.
Headline photo: Virginia Sherwood/MSNBC