MSNBC’s Chris Matthews said Wednesday that Hillary Clinton was "wrong" saying that FBI Director James Comey exonerated her with his congressional testimony on her email scandal.
Matthews got defensive about his media bonafides while interviewing Steve Cortes, a Trump surrogate, and lectured him about not running with the rest of the media "pack."
"I’ve been pretty tough on these guys. I’m pretty tough on all of them. I was not exactly a best friend of the Clintons in the 2008 campaign, so I don’t run with the pack," Matthews told Cortes. "So when you go after the media, you better not be talking about me because I don’t fit in the pack. I’m not in the pack."
Cortes conceded that point to Matthews before saying the "mainstream" news media was not covering Clinton’s comments from Sunday during an interview with Fox News’ Chris Wallace.
"On Sunday morning she went on Fox News and effectively said that FBI Director Comey exonerated her, and he said the exact opposite," Cotes said. "There was no news coverage compared to Trump."
Matthews interjected, saying, "She’s wrong. She’s wrong. There is a difference between an acquittal and innocence."
Clinton has received criticism over the past few days for her comments to Wallace that Comey’s testimony shows she always told the truth about her private email server. Washington Post fact checker Glenn Kessler rated her claim as false in an article published after the interview.