VIDEO: Chris Matthews On Obama: "I Forgot He Was Black Tonight, For An Hour."

MSNBC's Chris Matthews inserted his foot into his mouth Wednesday night, as a comment he made following President Barack Obama's State Of The Union speech is raising eyebrows all over the Internet.

Following up on Obama's speech, Matthews attempted to convey how Obama's mystique of being America's first black president has been trumped by his strong communication and leadership abilities -- it just didn’t come out that smooth.

"I forgot he was black tonight, for an hour," Matthews said.

The Hardball host then followed up on his poorly-worded anecdote, explaining the rationale.

"He's gone a long way to become a leader of this country and passed so much history in just a year or two,” he said. “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.' And here he is. President of the United States, and we've completely forgotten that tonight."

Matthews then, in a moment of clarity, said: "Maybe I shouldn't talk about it."