Chris Matthews joined MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts Thursday to discuss his upcoming interview with President Obama, saying he would ask the President some "easier questions" before getting into "fun stuff".
MATTHEWS: [I’ll] get into questions that I want to get into, with executive management and political dysfunction in this country that we talk about all of the time on the program and get into some easier questions, for example, voter suppression efforts by the Republicans so he can bite into that.
Obama’s appearance on the Hardball College Tour comes at a time when the President faces his lowest approval ratings among young voters (18- to 29-year-olds) to date, with only 41% approving of the President’s job performance. Perhaps even more alarming for Obama, 57% said they disapprove of Obamacare.
Matthews noted that he and his producers had asked the President to join the program for weeks and months, but was only contacted by the White House a week ago to accept, on the condition it was before a college audience.
MATTHEWS: They called up a week or so ago and they thought they would be able to do it and meet our request for weeks and months now, but before a college audience, they wanted to do that.
Matthews did not comment on the convenient timing of the President’s appearance before a college audience as his numbers among millennials plummet, but said he thinks it will be "exciting to see the President in front of a young group that he knows he has to convince."