Chris Matthews wondered if politicians like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) are trying to take the Republican Party in a new direction and distance itself from its former self that Matthews claims was more willing to negotiate on issues. Matthews played a clip of Cruz appearing on Mark Levin's radio show, then said that Cruz seemed "fanatically right winged" and is "unsure what he's up to."

In a conversation with frequent guest David Corn and former Rep. Steve Latourette (R-OH), Matthews admitted he liked to "join" Corn on the left side of the aisle, and then rambled about Cruz' political tactics, 

I'll tell ya', this isn't a nuance, this isn't 'Let's move a couple notches to the right'... And he's saying this on Mark Levin's show. Well, there's a hater anyway, but he's on there trashing what he's claimed to be a member of. I think he's got Joe McCarthy tendencies! I think he's all about indicting everyone around him as somehow a traitor of some sort.