MATTHEWS: I make this president look like -- you don't watch this program, Alexandra. That has never been the case with me. And anybody watching knows right now, we treat this guy [Bush] with respect. I happen to like him. I voted for him at least once. I'm not going to go any further on that. But the idea that we treat him like a dunce is just inaccurate.
[...] MATTHEWS: Just to straighten the record out, Alexandra, back in the 2000 race, I was one of the few journalists that pointed out that George W. Bush did extremely well in those debates against Al Gore. In fact, I said he won in terms of personality, in terms of likability and fairness and on other grounds. I was the one who took a lot of heat for taking that position.
From the beginning, I've defended him on issues like saying Jesus Christ is his personal philosopher. I've defended him against the liberal elitists who did put him down. So, I don't think it's fair to say that I have in any way abused him. Do you want to take that back or do you want to start over or what here?
Well that just gives me a thrill up my leg.