MSNBC's Chris Matthews said Friday that President Trump's inaugural address was both "Hitlerian" and meant to mimic Russian President Vladimir Putin.



“When he said today ‘America First,’ it was not just the racial — I mean, I shouldn’t say racial, the Hitlerian background to it, but it was the message I kept thinking," Matthews said.

Matthews imagined Trump's remarks sparking worries for United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May about the two countries' "special relationship."



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"What is Theresa May thinking this morning, when she picks up the papers and goes ‘My God, what did he just say? He said 'America first.' What happened to the special relationship?'"

Matthews, a former speechwriter for President Jimmy Carter, then evoked Putin.



"What if you’re Putin? You’re probably pounding the table saying, 'That’s what I’ve been saying, Russia first! Russia first!’"

Matthews, host of the weeknight program "Hardball" on MSNBC, is routinely mocked by conservative members of the media for declaring during the 2008 presidential race that hearing a speech by Barack Obama Barack Hussein ObamaThe Hill's 12:30 Report - Presented by Facebook - Don't expect a government check anytime soon Trump appointees stymie recommendations to boost minority voting: report Obama's first presidential memoir, 'A Promised Land,' set for November release MORE put a "thrill up his leg."



"I have to tell you, you know, it’s part of reporting this case, this election, the feeling most people get when they hear Barack Obama’s speech," Matthews said.



"My, I felt this thrill going up my leg. I mean, I don’t have that too often."