Political analyst Matthew Dowd is out of a job at MSNBC after on on-air comments about the shooting that killed conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Dowd’s comments came amid the network’s breaking news coverage of the deadly gunfire at Utah Valley University on Wednesday. Kirk was speaking at the Orem campus as part of his “American Comeback Tour,” when he was fatally shot in the neck.
“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,” Dowd said on MSNBC Live With Katy Tur.
“And I always go back to, hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions,” he continued. “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.”
He also speculated about the circumstances of the shooting, saying, “we don’t know if this was a supporter shooting their gun off in celebration.”
Dowd’s remarks sparked quick backlash across social media, and a subsequent apology from MSNBC, condemning them as “inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable.” According to Deadline, the decision to dismiss Dowd was almost immediate, and MSNBC on Thursday confirmed he is “no longer with the network.”
“We apologize for his statements, as has he,” it continued. “There is no place for violence in America, political or otherwise.”
In his own mea culpa, Dowd said he “in no way intended for my comments to blame Kirk for this horrendous attack.”
He added: “Let us all come together and condemn violence of any kind.”
Dowd, once a political strategist for President George W. Bush, joined MSNBC in 2022. He also spent nearly 15 years at ABC as analyst.
As of Thursday afternoon, no suspect has been identified in Kirk’s shooting.
With News Wire Services
