Longtime MSNBC host Chris Matthews made a surprise on-air announcement of his resignation from the network on Monday, Fox News reports.
Matthews made the announcement on his long-running show, “Hardball with Chris Matthews,” saying: “Let me start with my headline tonight: I’m retiring. This is the last ‘Hardball’ on MSNBC.” He claimed that his primary reasoning for stepping down was because he feels that “the younger generations out there are ready to take the reins.” After the announcement in the opening segment of the show, the remainder of the final episode was hosted by political correspondent Steve Kornacki.
His retirement, considered by some to be a resignation, is widely attributed to recent controversial statements he made on his show and during MSNBC’s election coverage.
As Senator Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) was being declared the winner of the Nevada caucuses by a landslide, Matthews compared the socialist senator’s rise to the Nazis taking over France in the 1940s. He was eventually forced to apologize on-air for those comments. In recent days, Matthews was also facing accusations of sexist behavior and sexual misconduct behind the scenes.