MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews on Friday confused Sen. Tim Scott (R., S.C.) with Jaime Harrison, a Democrat running to challenge Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) for his Senate seat.
Matthews was set to interview Harrison and the network showed a clip of Scott standing next to Graham at President Trump's rally.
"Jaime, I see you next to the guy you're going to beat there, maybe, maybe, maybe, Lindsey Graham," Matthews said. Both Scott and Harrison are African American.
Matthews's two guests, Adrienne Elrod and Trymaine Lee, corrected Matthews immediately.
"Tim Scott, Tim Scott," Lee said.
"Jaime?" Matthews said.
"Tim Scott," Elrod said.
"Who's that?" Matthews then asked.
"Tim Scott," Lee repeated.
"I'm sorry? Oh it's the other senator, Tim Scott, what am I saying? Big mistake, mistaken identity," Matthews said. "Tell me how you're going to beat Lindsey."
"Everybody knows Lindsey but everybody doesn't like Lindsey," Harrison responded.
At the end of the show, Matthews apologized for the mix-up, saying he thought it was a "candidate pose" with Graham and Harrison standing next to each other.
Media Research Center's Rich Noyes first noticed the mix-up on Twitter.
Yikes! MSNBC's Chris Matthews confuses SC Dem Senate candidate Jaime Harrison with current SC GOP Senator Tim Scott. pic.twitter.com/m8G3DFna3D
— Rich Noyes (@RichNoyes) February 29, 2020