Chris Matthews: Biden has “good reason to be resentful towards Obama and the elites”

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews said Thursday that President Biden is right to ignore “the elite,” adding that he has “good reason to harbor resentment” toward former President Obama for the way he was treated.

Matthews sang Biden’s praises on “Morning Joe” on Thursday, recounting his first upset victory in the 1972 U.S. Senate election in Delaware and overcoming personal tragedy after the deaths of his wife and young daughter. He said Biden had no reason to care what figures like Hollywood actor George Clooney thought when they urged him to drop out of the 2024 race.

“He found Jill (Biden),” Matthews said. “Who is he going to listen to now? Jill or George Clooney? I’m telling you, this is a personal thing. The elite thing is so true, he’s absolutely right about the elite. Look at President Obama, he served loyally for eight years, and yet Obama supported Hillary Clinton for president and not him. I heard he didn’t even invite him upstairs. He had a good reason to be upset, but he’s not. He puts up with the elite.”

On Monday, Biden called into “Morning Joe” and railed against “the elites” who were trying to push him out of the race, referring to media outlets such as the New York Times and prominent figures such as former Obama adviser David Axelrod.

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Matthews said Thursday that Biden is emerging as a “comeback” candidate.

“I’m telling you, people are going to be for him in October because he’s going to make a comeback, and they’re going to pay for this elite attack on him, but in the end they’re going to vote for him,” he continued. “I think Biden is going to be the little guy, he’s going to be the Democrat in this race, the real Democrat, and he’s going to get people to come out and support him in October. That’s going to be breathtaking. He’s not giving up, he’s not built to give up.”

While Matthews said Biden was not “vindictive,” the show’s host saw it differently.

Earlier, the co-hosts of “Morning Joe”, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, had pointed to Obama’s “influence” and suggested that the former president was behind the actor Clooney’s guest article in the New York Times and called on Biden this week to abandon his candidacy for re-election.

“I will say that we need to highlight one thing here so that viewers can understand it: What is going on behind the scenes is the Biden campaign, and many Democratic politicians believe that Barack Obama is quietly working behind the scenes to orchestrate this,” Scarborough said. “If Joe Biden believes that, it’s not going to knock him out of the race any faster.”

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Scarborough argued that every time Axelrod or former Obama staffers and Pod Save America hosts criticize Biden, it “makes Joe Biden dig in another day.”

Joe Scarborough from MSNBC (John Lamparski/Getty Images)

“The path to Joe Biden’s graceful retirement does not go through the Obamas or the Clintons. That’s simply not the case,” he said, adding: “That’s the reality. Joe Biden is deeply upset by his treatment not only by Obama’s staff, but by the way he was sidelined for Hillary Clinton.”

“He is deeply resentful of those who would try to push him out of the way,” Scarborough added. “He has always felt like an outsider, always felt like people looked down on him.”

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A representative from Obama’s office did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. The Biden team also did not respond to a request for comment on Scarborough’s comments.