In the wake of the murder of Charlie Kirk on Wednesday afternoon, MSNBC analyst Matthew Dowd finds himself no longer with the network following comments he made in the aftermath.
While appearing on Katy Tur Reports, Dowd suggested that Kirk’s prior rhetoric was responsible for his shooting.
“Hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which ten lead to hateful actions,” Dowd said. “You can’t stop with these sort of awful thoughts you have and then saying these awful words and then not expect awful actions to take place.”
The statement was immediately picked up as crude, crass, and cruel by social media users, creating a firestorm of pushback and criticism.
Late Wednesday evening, MSNBC President Rebecca Kutler released a statement.
During our breaking news coverage of the shooting of Charlie Kirk, Matthew Dowd made comments that were inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable,” wrote Kutler. “We apologize for his statements, as has he. There is no place for violence in America, political or otherwise.”
Later, MSNBC revealed that it had severed ties with Dowd.
Dowd served as the chief strategist for the 2004 presidential campaign of President George W. Bush. He also worked as the chief strategist for Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2006 re-election campaign in California. He ran for Lt. Governor of the State of Texas in 2021 against incumbent Dan Patrick (R), before ending his campaign less than three months after launching it.
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