MSNBC host Chris Matthews thought Susan Rice was "great" in her Sunday talk show appearances spinning the Benghazi attack as the result of a demonstration against a YouTube video, even though that characterization has been revealed to be utterly false.
Matthews, who admitted he made the assessment despite not knowing the details, praised Rice for "putting the best possible light on a situation" before finding out later what she said was erroneous and the attack on the U.S. consulate was a coordinated al-Qaeda terrorist assault:
MATTHEWS: I watched Susan Rice on television that Sunday on 'Meet [the Press],' and I thought she was great, but I was looking at it from a total political point of view. I said there's a soldier, the same way Madeline Albright defended Bill Clinton when he had problems. I said that's a soldier, perhaps auditioning for a big job as Secretary of State and she just won it. That's the way I saw it, just as a political person. I didn't know the details. I saw her putting the best possible light on a situation that looked strong and authoritative and really compelling, and then we find out all the complications later.