The Internet was abuzz last night when Chris Matthews awkwardly tried to compliment President Obama and the country at large following the State of the Union by saying, “I forgot he was black tonight for an hour.”

Analyzing Obama’s State of the Union address, he called the President “post-racial” before saying, “I forgot he was black tonight for an hour. He’s gone a long way to become a leader of this country and past so much history in just a year or two. I mean it’s something we don’t even think about.

“I was watching and I said, wait a minute, he’s an African-American guy in front of a bunch of other white people and there he is, President of the United States, and we’ve completely forgotten that tonight — completely forgotten it.”

Matthews returned 90 minutes after to clarify his statement, explaining, having grown up during a time of racial strife, it was striking to him that skin color had no impact on the interactions among the assemblage: a black president and a mostly white audience.

Here’s the video of Chris Matthews and his now infamous line:

(hat tip to Mashable and NYDailyNews)