Chris Matthews on Obamacare Foe Ted Cruz: ‘He’s Brilliant’ [Video]

WIth regard to Obamacare, the federal government shutdown, and other political issues, MSNBC host Chris Matthews has been leveling blistering attacks on US Senator Ted Cruz for months.

But he has apparently changed his tune to some degree. Yesterday on Morning Joe, Matthews declared that Cruz is brilliant and that President Obama has met his match in the GOP freshman lawmaker from Texas.

Matthews is usually in Barack Obama’s corner on most things and is perhaps best known for admitting in 2008 that he felt a thrill go up his leg when Obama gave a speech.

Since conducting his 21-hour filibuster in an attempt to defund Obamacare, Cruz has taken a lot of flak from Democrats, some Republicans, and particularly the media.

Said Matthews uncharacteristically about Cruz: “I think Ted Cruz is brilliant, I think the president has met his match in this guy. He set this thing up months ago with no budget agreement, therefore no appropriations, therefore the government would be completely exposed this morning, at midnight last night, to completely shut down. So he knows what he’s doing.”

Matthews than made an odd biblical reference in relation to Obamacare: “It’s about the baby, Obama’s baby. You can’t cut the baby in half. We learned that in Solomon.”

Chris Matthews was on the Morning Joe program to promote his new book about how President Reagan and House Speaker Tip O’Neill supposedly worked well together despite their vast ideological differences. Matthews was a top aide to Speaker O’Neil and kept a diary while working on Capitol Hill.

Both Obama and Cruz attended Harvard Law School. Harvard Law Professor Allan Dershowitz has referred to Cruz as a terrific student. “He was always very active in class, presenting a libertarian point of view… Without a doubt he is among the smartest students I’ve ever had … I’ve had great students but he has to be at the top of anyone’s short list, in terms of raw brain power.”