Yes, I remember that, too. Seems weird looking back at it now. But at the time, Matthews was considered to be at least somewhat conservative-leaning. The things that came out of his mouth were a bit more circumspect and balanced. He had Rush fooled for awhile.
Matthews worshipped National Review under Buckley, 45 years ago, so maybe he was a believer.
Now, he’s ice fishing in an ice skating rink and scratching his head cause it ain’t working.