Awkward: Chris Matthews Confuses GOP Sen. Tim Scott With Lindsey Graham's Dem Rival

Mary Papenfuss
Updated ·1 min read

In his latest pratfall, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews on Friday mixed up Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) with Democrat Jamie Harrison, who is challenging Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) in this year’s election. Both Scott and Harrison are Black.

Matthews was speaking with Harrison on air before President Donald Trump’s rally in South Carolina. Matthews, seeing footage of the event, commented on Harrison standing next to Graham — except that it wasn’t Harrison; it was Scott.

“Jamie, I see you standing next to the guy you’re going to beat right there maybe. Maybe, maybe,” Matthews said to Harrison, while the camera showed Scott and Graham.

The “Hardball” host was immediately corrected — three times — by Democratic strategist Adrienne Elrod and network correspondent Trymaine Lee before realizing in a bit of a fog that he had totally goofed. Harrison stood by quietly, smiling incredulously.

“Big mistake. Mistaken identity, sir, sorry,” Matthews said.

Harrison took it in stride, saying he plans to beat Graham and that he and voters will give the senator a “one-way ticket to ... Mar-a-Lago. We’re fed up.”

Matthews was already in hot water. He triggered a storm of calls for his resignation after comparing Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) win in Nevada to the Nazis storming France in World War II. Sanders, who is Jewish, lost family members in the Holocaust.

Matthews later apologized.

Check out the big mix-up video up top.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.