Chris Matthews’ outsized love of President Barack Obama needs no rehearsal, and yet the MSNBC host seems to find new ways to escalate his depiction of that love on an almost daily basis. Naturally enough, Obama’s Second Inaugural address was the occasion for one such escalation. After watching Obama’s speech, Matthews gushed:

“Reminds you of another second inaugural: Lincoln’s. So much of Lincoln in that speech, from the Gettysburg address to the second inaugural itself. I thought what was interesting was an attempt to draw a balance – of course, he’s a man of the progressive side – but he tried to draw a balance there between a government ruled by an elite and then a government ruled by a mob both being a problem. Then he talked about the government that we want, which is infrastructure, regulation, education, all the good things, and then recognized that government can’t solve all the problems.”

As National Review observed:

 Hey, credit where credit’s due. The president did refer to “blood drawn by the lash and blood drawn by the sword”; his remarks were concise, much like the Gettysburg address; and this was a 2nd Inaugural…just like Lincoln’s 2nd Inaugural. Lincolnian, indeed.

Watch Matthews’ exclamation below: