During Hardball today, Chris Matthews was doing his "talk to the crowd" shtick outside the VP debate in Danville, Kentucky, when he was rudely interrupted by a Romney supporter shouting "communist" over a conversation Matthews was having with someone else about the state of health care in America.

Rather than let it slide, Matthews decides to have to some fun, and confronts the kneejerk about her remark.

"What did you mean by that?" Matthews inquired. "All you have to do is study it out," the woman replied, adding: "You haven't done your homework, buddy."

Probably shouldn't have done that, because Matthews went into full "rope-a-dope" mode, and pressed on.

Trying, and failing, to get the definition of "communist" out of Miss Know-It-All, Matthews moved to another line of questioning. "Is he an American?" Matthews asks. "Oh no," the lady responds. "He's not an American," Matthews confirms. "No," she says again. "What country is he from?" says Matthews, going in for the kill.

"Just because he was born here doesn't mean he thinks like us. He's a communist, buddy."

And there you have it.

[H/T: Mediaite, Gotcha Media, video via TPM TV]