MSNBC's Chris Matthews joked about giving Hillary Clinton a 'Bill Cosby pill' before he interviewed her in 2016

(Image credit: Teresa Kroeger/Getty Images)

published 12 January 2018

Before interviewing Hillary Clinton in January 2016, MSNBC's Chris Matthews joked about slipping the then-Democratic presidential candidate a date rape drug, The Cut reported Friday.

The Cut obtained background footage of Matthews preparing to interview Clinton on Jan. 5, 2016, inside a fire station in Iowa. The former secretary of state was appearing for a segment on his show, Hardball with Chris Matthews. In the clip, as a staffer pours him water, Matthews asks, "Where's that Bill Cosby pill I brought with me?"

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In response to the story, Matthews told The Cut: "This was a terrible comment I made in poor taste during the height of the Bill Cosby headlines. I realize that's no excuse. I deeply regret it and I'm sorry." In December 2015, disgraced comedian Bill Cosby was charged with sexual assault after being accused of sexually assaulting more than 50 women and using drugs to render his victims unconscious.

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Kelly O'Meara Morales is a staff writer at The Week. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and studied Middle Eastern history and nonfiction writing amongst other esoteric subjects. When not compulsively checking Twitter, he writes and records music, subsists on tacos, and watches basketball.

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