FLASHBACK: Chris Matthews Stumps Key Democrats When He Asks The Difference Between a Socialist and a Democrat

MSNBC host Chris Matthews is no Republican sympathizer, but he is not doing the Democratic Party any favors by making three of its key members squirm on live television with a simple question: What's the difference between a socialist and a Democrat?

Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D., Fla.), Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.), the third-ranking Democrat in the chamber, have gotten the Matthews treatment with that question, and each came off looking uncomfortable.

Schultz refused to distinguish the two in July, saying that the real debate in the race would be the contrasts between Republicans and Democrats. When Meet the Press host Chuck Todd offered her a reprieve a few days later, she still failed to answer the question.

Clinton, who is trying to counter a challenge from avowed socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) in what has become an embarrassingly close primary fight, was unnerved by the question this month, ultimately offering that she was not a socialist but a "progressive Democrat." She did not outline the differences.

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