MSNBC's Chris Matthews explains 'Oh God' remark

[Hepburn]

NEW YORK (AP) — MSNBC's Chris Matthews said he was surprised by the "peculiar stagecraft" of Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's response to President Barack Obama's speech to Congress, leading him to quietly say "Oh God" as Jindal approached a microphone.

The remark inspired a brief Internet guessing game about who had said it and questions about whether someone at MSNBC was mocking the Republican governor.

Matthews' barely audible "Oh God" appeared to be a classic case of someone talking on TV without realizing their microphone was on, and potentially embarrassing to a network many Republicans already regard with suspicion because of left-leaning talk shows by Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow.

"I was taken aback by that peculiar stagecraft, the walking from somewhere in the back of this narrow hall, the winding staircase looming there, the odd antibellum look of the scene," Matthews said in a script for his "Hardball" show on Wednesday. "Was this some mimicking of a president walking along the state floor to the East Room?"

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hpKxxghd9s9AqOEJDmTRmI-DyoQQD96IRT4G0

Frankly, the ENTIRE Jindal speech was weird and I found myself saying "Oh, Gawd..." many times during Jindal's performance.