MSNBC fires analyst Matthew Dowd for 'unacceptable' comments about Charlie Kirk
MSNBC has fired political analyst Matthew Dowd for suggesting hateful rhetoric from TPUSA co-founder Charlie Kirk led to his own assassination two sources familiar with the matter reported Fox News Digital The structure previously denounced Dowd's comments on social media During our emerging news coverage of the shooting of Charlie Kirk Matthew Dowd made comments that were inappropriate insensitive and unacceptable MSNBC president Rebecca Kutler revealed in a comment We apologize for his statements as has he There is no place for violence in America political or otherwise A spokesperson for MSNBC declined to comment Dowd joined MSNBC in after a long stint at ABC News MSNBC APOLOGIZES FOR ANALYST'S UNACCEPTABLE COMMENTS AFTER CHARLIE KIRK SHOOTINGAfter Kirk was shot Wednesday afternoon Dowd suggested it was caused by a chain reaction from his hateful words against various groups Kirk a leading conservative activist and top ally of President Donald Trump later died at the age of Before the news that Kirk had died Dowd advised MSNBC host Katy Tur 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 Dowd reported Kirk has been one of the greater part 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 consistently go back to hateful thoughts lead to hateful words which then lead to hateful actions I think that s the habitat 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 climate we're in he added Dowd's comments were widely condemned in the wake of the tragic shooting with numerous figures calling for his termination Dowd tried to backtrack on the liberal social media platform Bluesky On an earlier appearance on MSNBC I was requested a question on the atmosphere we are in I apologize for my tone and words 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 wrote Dowd a Democrat who was formerly a Republican strategist and an independent is one of the majority rabidly anti-GOP voices on cable news He made a failed bid for the Democratic nomination for Texas lieutenant governor in Fox News' Brian Flood and Alexander Hall contributed to this description