Following the ABC News/WMUR Democratic Debate on Friday, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews lashed out at Bernie Sanders’ bid for the White House.

Matthews mentioned the Cold War and said “I don’t know who Bernie supports over these years.”

The MSNBC host claimed Sanders has not been clear by his definition of socialism during his Friday rant, though MSNBC anchor Chris Hayes tried to offer some clarity.

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“Hardball” host Chris Matthews lashed out at Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and his campaign for president following the ABC News’/WMUR Democratic Debate on Friday, seemingly mocking Sanders in comments that he has been unclear about his support for socialism.

Matthews, 74, tore into Sanders during a post-debate discussion on MSNBC that included other MSNBC personalities and New Hampshire voters amid the upcoming February 11 contest in the 2020 presidential race. Matthews targeted Sanders, a self-described Democratic Socialist, and said that he didn’t know what the 78-year-old candidate stood for in a rant in which he said he had an “attitude” about socialists.

“I remember the Cold War,” Matthews said. “I have an attitude toward Castro. I believe if Castro and the Reds had won the Cold War there would have been executions in Central Park, and I might have been one of the ones executed, and certain other people would be there cheering, OK? So I have a problem with people who took the other side.”

“I don’t know who Bernie supports over these years,” he added. “I don’t know what he means by socialism.”

Matthews then implied that Sanders flip-flopped on his positions, claiming “one week” that he wanted to make the US more like Denmark, though he never explained what Sanders’ other apparent conflicting ideas were.

“We’re gonna be like Denmark,” Matthews said, adopting an accent in an apparent attempt to mimic the Vermont senator’s speech, adding that he thought that plan would be “harmless,” calling Denmark a “capitalist country” with a “lot of good” social welfare programs.

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Finally, after he had spoken – uninterrupted – for more than 30 seconds, MSNBC’s Chris Hayes interjected.

“He’s pretty clearly in the Denmark category,” Hayes said before Matthews interrupted.

“Is he? Really? How do you know? Did he tell you that,” Matthews asked?

“Well, that’s what he says and that’s what his agenda calls for,” Hayes replied.

“Let’s see what happens,” Matthews remarks at the end of the clip, which was posted to Twitter and shared about 2,000 times.

In another excerpt from Friday’s MSNBC broadcast, Matthews further blasted socialism and Sanders’ campaign.

“The issue of that campaign – it is that word – socialism,” Matthews, who has hosted “Hardball” since 1994, said. “Some people like it – younger people like it – those of us like me, who grew up in the cold war and saw some aspects of it after visiting places like Vietnam like I have and seeing countries like Cuba being there I’ve seen what socialism is like, I don’t like it. OK – it’s not only not free, it doesn’t frickin’ work.”

As Vox previously reported, Sanders has in two speeches – one in 2015 and one in 2019 explained his version of socialism. Last year’s speech focused on the Trump administration, and the Vermont senator said his vision hinged on his policy proposals to create a modern New Deal focused on expanding and creating social programs to expand healthcare, create affordable housing, and protect the environment.

“And let me be absolutely clear: democratic socialism to me requires achieving political and economic freedom in every community,” Sanders said last year, according to Vox.

Business Insider’s request for comment from the Sanders campaign and MSNBC were not returned.

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