Raines on Chris Matthews: 'Fragile'

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By Felix Gillette

May 12, 2008 | 2:06 p.m

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Last month, Mark Leibovich wrote an extensive and somewhat unflattering profile of MSNBC anchor and political guru Chris Matthews for the cover of the New York Times Magazine.

How did Mr. Matthews feel about the piece?

According to freshly unearthed and highly anecdotal evidence: not so well!

To wit: In the current issue of Portfolio, former Times Editor Howell Raines tells an anecdote about recently attending an awards dinner in Washington D.C., thrown by The Week.

Along the way, Mr. Raines runs down the roster of attendees, which, he writes, included Chris Matthews who was "reeling that evening from having just read an early copy of ‘that fucking article' about him in the Times Magazine."

More from Mr. Raines:

My wife, Krystyna, seated at the same table, reported that Andrea [Mitchell] assured Chris that "it wasn't that bad," but no creature in the universe is more fragile than a cable celeb who has just been mugged in print.