Chris Matthews opened Monday night’s show with a surprise announcement, saying, “Let me start with my headline tonight. I’m retiring. This is the last Hardball on MSNBC.” Matthews went on to thank the audience and talk warmly about his career: “Every morning I read the papers, and I'm gung ho to get to work. Not many people have had this privilege.”
He also touched on recent allegations of his inappropriate behavior in the workplace, something he handled gracefully by saying it was, in part, the reason he was retiring. Times have changed, and changed for the better, he said.