Political analyst Matthew Dowd, a Republican-turned Democrat, has been fired from MSNBC over his comments about the killing of Charlie Kirk, US media reports said. Turning Point USA co-founder and noted Pro-Trump commentator Charlie Kirk was fatally shot while addressing students at the Utah University.
After Dowd's remarks that reportedly blamed Kirk for the violent crime, MSNBC was forced to come up with an official statement distancing itself from the analyst's remarks. Later, Dowd was fired.
"During our breaking news coverage of the shooting of Charlie Kirk, Matthew Dowd made comments that were inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable," MSNBC president Rebecca Kutler said in a statement. "We apologize for his statements, as has he. There is no place for violence in America, political or otherwise," she added.
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What did Matthew Dowd say about the Charlie Kirk shooting?
1. "We don’t know any of the full details of this yet. We don’t know if this was a supporter shooting their gun off in celebration," Fox News reported Dowd as telling MSNBC host Katy Tur after the news of the shooting broke.
2. Dowd described Kirk as"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."
3. "I think that’s the environment we’re in, that the people just — 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're in," Fox News reported him as saying.
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4. "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," Variety quoted the MSNBC analyst as telling Kur about Kirk.
5. "My thoughts & prayers are w/ the family and friends of Charlie Kirk. On an earlier appearance on MSNBC I was asked a question on the environment we are in. I apologize for my tone and words," he wrote. "Let me be clear, I in no way intended for my comments to blame Kirk for this horrendous attack. Let us all come together and condemn violence of any kind," Dowd later wrote on his BlueSky account.