MSNBC's Chris Matthews: 'There'll Be Hell To Pay"

Chris Matthews, the host of MSNBC's "Hardball", warned the Democratic leadership "will have hell to pay" with voters if the party fails to block President Donald Trump's pick to replace Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, who announced Wednesday that he is retiring at the end of July.

According to USAToday, Matthews said that because Senate Republicans, led by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, refused to even meet with former President Barack Obama's pick to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia, Democrats have to do everything in their power to stop Trump's pick from being confirmed.

"I don’t think the Democrats should allow even meetings to occur with Trump’s nominee to fill this vacancy by Justice Kennedy," Matthews said. "I think they have to fight eye for an eye for what happened in ‘16 where the Republicans, led by Mitch McConnell, refused to even consider or even meet with Merrick Garland."

Justice Antonin Scalia was found dead on Feb. 13, 2016, when Obama still had nearly a year remaining in his second term. McConnell said that the vacancy should not be filled in an election year and that the nominee should be up to the next president.

Despite McConnell's declaration, Obama proceeded to nominate Judge Merrick Garland. Senate Republicans refused to consider Garland and he was not granted a hearing. Instead, the Supreme Court operated with eight justices until Trump took office and nominated Neil Gorsuch.

McConnell apparently does not intend to follow the precedent set in 2016, saying that the Senate will vote on a Trump nominee to the Supreme Court this fall. That would ensure that Trump's pick is confirmed by a Republican-controlled Senate, even if the Democrats managed to regain a majority in the election.

Matthews said that if the Democratic leadership under Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., allows Trump's nominee to go forward it would anger the party's core voters.