Dealing with ‘rural rage’ against ‘the liberal establishment’ is ‘like fighting terrorism,’ Chris Matthews says

Pushing back against rural Americans angry at the liberal elite is akin to “fighting terrorism,” according to former MSNBC host Chris Matthews.

In November, the annual Reagan National Defense Survey found 70% of Americans believe that the country is headed in the wrong direction.

Despite the overwhelming majority, Matthews suggested Wednesday on “Morning Joe” that the backlash is primarily “rural rage.”

“But I tell you, it’s very tough, because people that didn’t go to college have a pretty good rage on their hands. That’s what you really want in an election, is a rage. It can be black rage, or white rage, or rural rage. In this case, it’s rural rage. They are so angry at the liberal establishment, the coastal elite,” Matthews said.

“But in a way, it’s like fighting terrorism,” he added. “I mean, you know, we think we just put the Army in, or Israel just puts the IDF and they’re going to solve the problem. It never solves the problem. Because you enrage people. And we did it with Afghanistan, and we did it with Iraq. We enrage the enemy to the point where they’re more fiery than ever, and they hate us more than ever. Armies don’t make peace. And we think they do.” 

Matthews also claimed it was “weird” how regular people feel rage toward things like “Saturday Night Live” and accuse the program of mocking them.