Matthews making news

Literally.

MSNBC Matthews Declares Himself Winner Of DeLay Scoop-stakes
Tue Apr 04 2006 09:53:05 ET

Late yesterday evening, TIME magazine's White House correspondent Mike Allen broke the story online that former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) was resigning his House seat after the congressman provided the reporter with an exclusive interview in Sugar Land, Texas.

However, in an effort to break the news first, MSNBC's Chris Matthews broke into his cable network's SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY via phone shortly after 10 PM eastern time to announce the "breaking news" that DeLay would step down from his House seat.

Matthews excitedly declared: "I just was on the phone… with U.S. Congressman Tom DeLay of Texas, who is fighting for reelection. And he told me tonight, just a moment ago, that he's going to withdraw from the race tomorrow. He's not going to seek reelection."

This morning, TIME's Mike Allen was interviewed by CNN's Miles O'Brien to discuss his exclusive with DeLay. CNN's O'Brien opened the interview by saying: "Mike Allen, the White House correspondent for TIME magazine broke the story. Glad to have you with us."

Meanwhile, on NBC's "TODAY SHOW," host Katie Couric introduced Matthews during the show's DeLay package by describing the flamboyant cable host as the person "who broke the story." The interview closed with Couric saying "Congratulations on breaking the story." Matthews replied "Thank you very much."

Yes, that's right. He declared himself the newsbreaker even though someone else released it first. It could be excused when he broke in on Scarborough Country, but by the next morning, he should have known that someone else released it first.

Unless you're not into checking facts, of course.

[via Drudge]