Matthews Takes Down Lazio over Half-Truths and Scapegoating of Muslims

Juan Cole 08/25/2010

Chris Matthews of Hardball takes down New York gubernatorial candidate Rick Lazio for his scapegoating of Muslims and aggressive, manipulative tactics, suggesting that the meanness is a calculated attempt to come back from being 30% behind his Democratic rival Andrew Cuomo in the polls. Watch Matthews catch Lazio misquoting Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, who said that the US did not deserve what happened on 9/11 but that US policies abroad were an accessory to that crime. Lazio quoted only the second half.

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About the Author

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment. He is Richard P. Mitchell Professor of History at the University of Michigan He is author of, among many other books, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Follow him on Twitter at @jricole or the Informed Comment Facebook Page