TVSpy
President Barack Obama‘s first State of the Union address saturated the media landscape on Wednesday evening. Every national news network carried it, “SOTU” was a top trending topic on Twitter, and Katie Couric introduced a live web wrap-up show after CBS had gone back to its regular programming. Amid all of the coverage, one comment immediately cut through all of the chatter. During MSNBC’s post-address analysis, anchor Chris Matthews said of the President, “I forgot he was black tonight for an hour.”
Matthews’ comment was made as he emphasized the President’s appeal and standing as a leader. “[Obama] is post-racial, by all appearances, ” he said, adding, “He’s gone a long way to become a leader of this country.” (Video here)
Matthews appeared on “The Rachel Maddow Show” later in the evening and took a moment to discuss his comments on Obama’s race. “I’m very proud I did it,” Matthews told Maddow. He moved on to applaud the President’s capability as a leader in “getting us beyond these divisions,” saying that race is no longer an issue, as compared to “where it was a campaign issue” a year ago. “I think he’s done something wonderful, I think he’s taken us beyond black and white.” (Video here)