MSNBC's Chris Matthews has a surprising take on whether the Democrats have moved 'too far left

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews declared Sunday that the Democratic Party has “moved too far to the left on cultural issues” such as abortion.

During an interview on NBC News' "Meet The Press," host Chuck Todd cited a column by Washington Free Beacon Editor Matthew Continetti about President Donald Trump's first 100 days in office. Continetti argued that:

What the Democratic Party has yet to understand is that its social and cultural agenda is irrelevant or inimical to the material and spiritual well-being of their former constituents. And until the Democrats recognize this fact, their next 100 days will be no better than their first.

Todd asked Matthews, the host of "Hardball," if he agreed with the conservative writer.

Matthews said that he did and argued that cultural issues contributed to former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s loss.

"A lot of it's cultural, not just economics," Matthews said. "I think that the position Hillary Clinton, for example, took on abortion, late-term abortions ... federal funding, get rid of the Hyde Amendment, pushed too far. I think a lot of the people [who] came out and voted in Pennsylvania, where I'm from, were pro-lifers.

"With all of Trump's problems, morally, personally, whatever, they didn't like Hillary's position. I think the party moved too far to the left on cultural issues," Matthews said.

Matthews’ remarks follow a renewed debate over abortion within the Democratic Party after Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez demanded that the party’s candidates for public office support abortion.

Perez’s remark came after Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) endorsed and campaigned with Heath Mello, a Democratic mayoral candidate in Omaha, Nebraska, who once backed pro-life bills as a member of the state’s legislature.

(H/T: Washington Free Beacon)