Tea Party Calls Chris Matthews Documentary A 'Left-Wing Hit Piece,' Urges Hardball Sponsors To Boycott

Tea Party Calls Chris Matthews Documentary A 'Left-Wing Hit Piece,' Urges Hardball Sponsors To Boycott

A coalition of Tea Party groups is taking aim at Chris Matthews and MSNBC in the aftermath of the network airing a new documentary, "The Rise of the New Right," this week, which the conservative activists charge is a "left-wing propaganda hit piece."

The MSNBC special premiered on the cable news channel Wednesday night, but even before its debut, host Chris Matthews signaled the program's provocative content by saying, "I think that the left will say this scares the heck out of me."

According to the National Tea Party Federation, "The Rise of the New Right" was a reflection of "journalism at its worse" and was produced with the intention to "demonize and misrepresent."

FreedomWorks Grassroots Director Brendan Steinhauser said, "The Tea Party movement I know looks nothing like the one portrayed on MSNBC. It is made up of good, hardworking, honest, smart people who love their country. It is a movement that reflects the best in America."

In a statement released Thursday, the National Tea Party Federation called on Hardball with Chris Matthews advertisers to pull their commercials from the program:

The National Tea Party Federation calls for all tea party supporters to contact the sponsors of Hardball and ask them to pull their commercials from this show. (Advertiser listing and contacts at NTPF website.) These commercial sponsors cannot continue their support of a program that seeks to demonize millions of Americans who identify with the Tea Party movement.

On Wednesday, prior to the airing of "The Rise Of The New Right," Matthews said of the of the recent and rapid conservative uprising, "They treat the American government like a foreign occupying force." "I don't know what motivates them," he said. "Whether it's a piece of showbiz or true ideology."

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