Christopher Matthews (born December 17, 1945) is an American news anchor and political commentator, known for his nightly hour-long talk show, Hardball with Chris Matthews, which is televised on the American cable television channel MSNBC. On weekends he hosts the syndicated NBC News-produced panel discussion program, The Chris Matthews Show. Matthews makes frequent appearances on many NBC and MSNBC programs. On March 22, 2009, Matthews renewed his contract to do his show on MSNBC through 2012.

Matthews was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is a Roman Catholic. He attended La Salle College High School.

He is a 1967 graduate of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, and did graduate work in economics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Matthews served in the United States Peace Corps in Swaziland from 1968 to 1970 as a trade development advisor.