Tearful Andrew Sullivan Praises Obama: 'Father-Figure' Saying 'I'm Fully A Part Of This Family'

» 13 comments

On Sunday's The Chris Matthews Show, a panel including Andrew Sullivan, Newsweek contributor and writer of 'The First Gay President' which was published alongside cover art featuring President Obama adorned with a halo. Sullivan described Obama' words in emotional terms, saying that hearing Obama saying 'I am his equal' was a transformative moment. 'To hear the president who is in some ways a father figure speak to that ' the tears came down like with many people in our families,' said Sullivan.

RELATED: Newsweek: Obama 'First Gay President'

Matthews opened his panel by playing a clip of ABC's Tuesday interview with Obama in which he embraced the right of same sex couples to marry. He first asked Sullivan, who has written the cover article on this week's Newsweek Magazine entitled 'The First Gay President' which lauds Obama's move on gay marriage.

When asked how important Obama's move was, Sullivan responded 'hugely important' and said he didn't know how important it would be until it happened. Through muted tears, Sullivan explained the impact of Obama's announcement for gay Americans like himself:

'Beforehand, I was kind of steeled. I was like, 'I didn't care; he's going to disappoint us again.' And then I sat down and watched our president tell me that I am his equal. And that I'm not going outside ' I'm fully part of this family. And to hear the president who is in some ways a father figure speak to that ' the tears came down like with many people in our families.'

'I never understood the power of a president's words until that day,' Sullivan continued. 'This man saying, 'I'm with you. I get it. You're like me. I am like you. There is nothing between us.'' Sullivan went on to say that the gravity of that moment was 'overwhelming.'

Matthews said that, if there is any opposition to Obama's move, it would come from an older demographic. Huffington Post Editorial Director Howard Fineman said in response that there will be an attempt to 'exploit this.'

'Republicans are divided on this,' said Fineman. He said Obama's move split the Republican party, some of whom are supportive of gay marriage while some are not. 'The studied calm and caution of the Romney people I thought was instructive,' said Fineman.

Gloria Borger, CNN chief political analyst, said that Obama gains young voters out of this move and loses older voters ' ending in a wash. Sullivan agreed, interjecting that this is a 'small 'c' conservative' issue, getting government out of the business of marriage.

'What [Obama has] done with Romney is make this a stark choice,' said Sullivan. When the issue of Romney's alleged bullying incident came up, Sullivan called it 'ugly stuff.'

'It's the powerful punishing the weak,' said Sullivan. 'I think it's a character issue.'

Watch the segment below via The Chris Matthews Show:

Follow us on Twitter.

Sign up for Mediaite's daily newsletter.

• Sullivan is right ! Romney is no good at all. Who believes this junk about how generous Romney is ? Generosity is overrated, according to Joe Biden.

  'When Romney went to the rescue of the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics, he accepted no salary for three years, and would not use an expense account.

  He also accepted no salary as Governor of Massachusetts.

  Character counts!! (and yes'that's worth reading again!)
  It's nice to hear something positive about one of the candidates for a change.

  Added Note: 
      You should also be aware that Romney gave his entire inheritance away to charity when he was young. What he has today he did on his own. You don't hear about this ' he never talks about it.  ' BP'

• Someone want to translate this? 

• Jeff Goldberg was right.  He is TRULY DELUSIONAL.

• Lefty.. If willard never talked about his giving away his inherttance, how do you know about it?
  by the way, he gave it to his sons,

• Our wonderful VP Joe Biden is also a great role model to all of us liberals, teaching us to never donate our own money to anything.

  That's for the dopey conservatives to do, with their ' principles and values ' and other hogwash.
  Who washes hogs, anyway ? Do they like it ?

  Joe knows how to makes money, just like Romney does. Joe charges the Secret Service over twenty thousand clams a year to rent a shack on his property while they guard him. That's never been done before.

  Joe's an entrepreneur !

• Excuse me while I vomit.  I cant wait for Chris Mathews and company to tear Obama a new one for lack of character and integrity in the Wright bribe'..Oh wait, nevermind. Theyll just excuse it or ignore it. 

• Are you off your meds?

• So Andy is perfectly fine that a man who wants to be seen as a leader was perfectly content to NOT do anything AND outright lie about his position while privately believing that gay people should be able to get married.  

• Cantor,  the 'Lefty' translation is dont give me facts just talking points,

• Biden's a schmuck and that's no secret.  Giving away your inheritance isn't the smartest move in the book either.

• No one thinks gays are not equal ' they obviously are. The concept is beyond Sullivan's self-obsession with gays and their life to understand. It's not about equality, but being seen as actually being a thing you simply are not. Am I discriminated if I can't dunk basketballs? It's reality ' deal with it and stop distracting the country's political and social energies with this fake argument and crocodile tears. Yes sports fans, in the eyes of the NBA I am separate but equal.

• Hail to the First Gay President Obama and his crying, tingling and ball fluffing boys.

• I've got something in my eye too.

   It's my own vomit, it came out so hard it hit the monitor and rebounded onto my face.