Jindal Elicits ‘Oh God’ Gasp from Matthews

As Gov. Bobby Jindal shuffled out, perhaps a bit awkwardly, to give the Republican rebuttal from his home state of Louisiana, we thought a microphone picked up Hardball host Chris Matthews uttering an exasperated “Oh, God.”

Matthews had earlier criticized Jindal for his stating he might refuse some stimulus money out of principal, but Matthews suspected the move might have had more to do with politics.

Jindal’s coming out party may not have gone as well as Republican Party, in search of a national leader, had hoped. The New York Times used the word “stilted” to describe the performance although the paper said it was unfair to compare his speech to Obama’s given the difference in settings.

– Jim Snyder

UPDATE: TV Newser confirms, through anonymous sources, that it was in fact Matthews. Some blogs were speculating that the off camera remark may have come from Keith Olbermann.