Things got awkward on the "Morning Joe" set this morning, with liberal host Chris Matthews launching into a fiery rant at Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus.

Matthews charged Republicans with injecting race into the campaign against President Barack Obama, criticizing Mitt Romney's birth certificate joke from Friday and his welfare ads that many have debunked as misleading.

"It is an embarrassment to your party to play that card," Matthews said of Romney's joke, drawing an awkward, dismissive laugh from Priebus. "This stuff about getting rid of the work requirement for welfare is dishonest — everyone's pointed out it's dishonest.

"And you are playing that little ethnic card there. You can play your games and giggle about it, but the fact is that your side is playing that card.

It was more than a minute before Priebus could get in a retort.

"Well, you got your monologue in," Priebus said. "Congratulations. You're loaded up. You got it out."

"It just seems funny that the first joke he's ever told in his life was about Obama's birth certificate," Matthews said.

Priebus said that Obama was "looking to Europe" for "guidance" for some of his policies, including health care.

"What? Where do you get this from? This is insane!" Matthews interjected. "You mean the Keynesian fiscal policy — you mean the fact that every president we've had that has tried to offset the economic cycle with stimulus going the other direction is somehow European?

"What’s this got to do with Europe and this foreign-ization of the guy? You’re doing it now! Saying he’s influenced by foreign influences! You’re playing that card again. What’s this European thing of yours? What are you up to with this constant that he’s not really domestic?"

Watch the full explosive clip below:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy