MSNBC’s Matthews explains ‘Oh God’ remark

NEW YORK—MSNBC’s Chris Matthews said he was surprised by the “peculiar stage-craft” of Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s response to President Barack Obama’s speech to Congress, leading him to quietly say “Oh God” as Jindal approached a microphone.
The remark inspired a brief Internet guessing game about who had said it and questions about whether someone at MSNBC was mocking the Republican governor.
Matthews’ barely audible “Oh God” appeared to be a classic case of someone talking on TV without realizing their microphone was on, and potentially embarrassing to a network many Republicans already regard with suspicion because of left-leaning talk shows by Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow.
On “Hardball” Wednesday, Matthews took note of the stagecraft of Jindal’s speech from the Louisiana governor’s mansion.
“Gov. Bobby Jindal walking from somewhere in the back of this narrow hall, this winding staircase looming there, the odd antebellum look of the scene,” he said. “Some people heard my reaction at the time. What was the message in all this? Was this some mimicking of a president walking along the state floor to the East Room? And at the same time that the Republicans are so far from Washington that they can’t be blamed for anything?”
Matthews said he wasn’t referring to Jindal himself, or anything he expected the governor to say.
A clip of the “Oh God” remark quickly made the Internet rounds. Before it was known that Matthews had said it, the Huffington Post asked readers to guess who it was and nearly 7,000 people responded.