Political analyst Matthew Dowd has spoken out after he was fired from MSNBC due to his on-air comments relating to Charlie Kirk. In a Substack post, Dowd wrote that his words were “misconstrued” and that the news network “reacted” to “the Right Wing media mob.”
Dowd was on-air immediately following the shooting at Utah Valley University and, when asked by anchor Katy Tur about “the environment in which a shooting like this happens,” Dowd responded with the following about Kirk: “He’s been one of the most divisive, especially divisive younger figures in this, who is constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech or sort of aimed at certain groups. And I always go back to, hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions. And I think that is the environment we are in. You can’t stop with these sort of awful thoughts you have and then saying these awful words and not expect awful actions to take place. And that’s the unfortunate environment we are in.”
Dowd explained on Substack that at the time he was asked about Kirk on-air, “the only thing known at the time was shots were fired and there was no reporting yet that Kirk was the target or had been shot at.” About 90 minutes after Kirk was shot and rushed to the hospital, President Trump announced on Truth Social that the right-wing advocate and Turning Point USA leader was dead. A suspect was arrested Friday morning.
“I said in the moment that we needed to get the facts because we have no idea what this could be and that it could easily be someone firing a gun in the air to celebrate the event. Remember Kirk is a diehard advocate of the 2nd amendment,” Dowd wrote.
Dowd wrote that with his remarks, he meant to convey that “we are in a toxic time in America, unlike every other democracy in the world, where we have a combination of divisiveness and near unlimited access to guns.”
“The Right Wing media mob ginned up, went after me on a plethora of platforms, and MSNBC reacted to that mob,” Dowd continued. “Even though most at MSNBC knew my words were being misconstrued, the timing of my words forgotten (remember I said this before anyone knew Kirk was a target), and that I apologized for any miscommunication on my part, I was terminated by the end of the day.”
A source familiar with the firing emphasized to Variety that MSNBC decided to end Dowd’s contract within hours of his on-air remarks. The source contended that the network was not swayed by outside pressure.
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Following Dowd’s firing, Comcast’s top executives, including CEO Brian Roberts, sent out a memo to all Comcast and NBCUniversal employees calling out Dowd’s “unacceptable and insensitive comment about this horrific event.” Per the memo: “That coverage was at odds with fostering civil dialogue and being willing to listen to the points of view of those who have differing opinions. We should be able to disagree, robustly and passionately, but, ultimately, with respect. We need to do better.”
On Substack, Dowd wrote that he is still “getting over the shell shock of the past few days” and is focused on what he will do next, which will include writing on Substack and speaking out on other platforms “to advocate for finding ways to unite our country around a common-sense vision of ideals and values.”
“Even though I am down and a bit disheartened in this moment, I still have hope and faith in a majority of Americans who want and hunger for the same things I do. We can do this,” Dowd concluded.
From Variety US