The New Jersey doctor who left his job earlier this month after a colleague complained about his allegedly insensitive reaction to the killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk says he was hardly “cheering” after the shooting occurred.
In a statement sent to the Daily News on Tuesday, Dr. Matthew M. Jung says he may not have agreed with Kirk’s politics, but he doesn’t condone how the 31-year-old pundit was silenced.
“As a surgeon, I have seen firsthand the devastation violence inflicts on families, and I do not wish that on anyone,” Jung’s statement reads.
Nurse Lexi Kuenzle filed a legal complaint against the former Englewood Health physician after Kirk was murdered on Sept. 10 while speaking at Utah Valley University. She claimed Jung, while standing at a nurse’s station, “publicly praised” news of the conservative star’s death, which left her aghast.
Englewood Health soon after announced Jung’s resignation and said the hospital “is committed to providing a safe and respectful environment for all.”
But Jung, who says he was “forced to leave the hospital and submit [his] resignation,” claims the discussion didn’t happen the way Kuenzle alleged.
“Several hospital staff asked me who [Kirk] was and why this might have happened,” Jung says in his statement. “In trying to explain, I mentioned that his platform had included rhetoric that many — including minorities like myself and several of the staff — found discriminatory. I spoke about how hatred can fuel more hatred and often leads to violence.”
As a gay ethnic minority, the doctor says he felt targeted by Kirk’s rhetoric, but was in “no way” celebrating his death. Jung accuses Kuenzle of crafting a “reckless, misleading” narrative about the situation that has led to racial slurs and threats being directed at himself and other minority physicians who were his colleagues.
“I am a minority and queer — two groups Mr. Kirk frequently targeted. But I also am a Christian, born and raised in New York, who worked my way through college and then medical school,” Jung says. “I dedicated my life to serving my patients with compassion at their most critical moments, regardless of their race, political beliefs, gender identity or anything else.”
Amid all the hatred he’s received, Jung says he’s also seen an outpouring of support from former colleagues, patients and members of his community.
“Even though I am no longer with Englewood Hospital, I continue to hold onto what is good in it, in this community, and in this country, and I look forward to treating patients and practicing medicine again soon,” his statement ends.
Kuenzle, who makes her pro-MAGA position clear on social media, was initially suspended in the wake of her complaint, but was reinstated days later.
She has since made the rounds on right-wing networks like Fox News, claiming that she was the one who faced retaliation for “exposing” what she and her lawyer call “illegal and unethical conduct.”
