MSNBC's Chris Matthews: Speech So Powerful, I Forgot He (Obama) Was Black...

President Barack Obama's first State of the Union address was only in the history books for mere moments before the next round of controversy emerged. MSNBC's Chris Matthews said on the post-speech commentary that he "forgot he was black tonight," speaking of Obama. Matthews said as video of the President's motorcade leaving the U.S. Capitol played next to him on the screen, "You know, I was trying to think about who he was tonight. It's interesting: he is post-racial, by all appearances. I forgot he was black tonight for an hour. You know, he's gone a long way to become a leader of this country, and past so much history, in just a year or two." "I mean, it's something we don't even think about. I was watching, I said, wait a minute, he's an African American guy in front of a bunch of other white people," Matthews continued. "And here he is president of the United States and we've completely forgotten that tonight - completely forgotten it. I think it was in the scope of his discussion. It was so broad-ranging, so in tune with so many problems, of aspects, and aspects of American life that you don't think in terms of the old tribalism, the old ethnicity. It was astounding in that regard. A very subtle fact. It's so hard to talk about. Maybe I shouldn't talk about it, but I am. I thought it was profound that way." There was no immediate acknowledgment or apology by MSNBC or Matthews with regard to the comments, but many on Twitter quickly spread the news, and some voiced their outrage via tweets.