Matthew Dowd fired from MSNBC after blaming the assassination of Charlie Kirk on the conservative influencer ‘hateful’ rhetoric leading to wide rebuke and demands that the political analyst be sacked.
MSNBC has fired political analyst Matthew Dowd following comments he made while covering the fatal shooting of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk at a college event in Utah.
Bullet that killed Charlie Kirk etched with transgender & anti fascist ideations
BREAKING 🚨 Matthew Dowd has been FIRED at MSNBC after he BLAMED Charlie Kirk for his own de*ath
GOOD RIDDANCE 🖕 pic.twitter.com/TTx1b7g5ay
— MAGA Voice (@MAGAVoice) September 11, 2025
MSNBC analyst blamed conservative’s shooting death on his ‘hateful rhetoric’
During his commentary, Dowd suggested ‘hateful’ rhetoric from TPUSA co-founder Charlie Kirk led to his own assassination, along with even speculating that the gunshot could have been fired by one of Kirk’s supporters.
‘[We] don’t know any of the full details of this yet,’ Dowd said.
‘We don’t know if this is a supporter shooting their gun off in celebration or… So we have no idea about this.’
Dowd during live coverage called Kirk ‘one of the most divisive, especially divisive younger figures… who is constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech or sort of aimed at certain groups.’
He continued: ‘And I always go back to hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions.
‘I think that’s the environment we’re in that 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. That’s the unfortunate environment we’re in.’
The commentator went on to receive a barrage of criticism for his ‘insensitive’ and ‘inappropriate’ comments.
‘That’s disgusting. Put your politics aside and have some humanity. Charlie is a person, a husband and father,‘ one person wrote on X in response to the clip.
‘Man, it’s tragic. It’s crazy how MSNBC will just say ‘whoopsie’ and sweep this under the rug like they always do,’ another added.
‘Shameful. Embarrassing for anybody who’s ever worked in the media,’ a third said.
How Charlie Kirk & Miss Arizona wife forged political & social ascent in conservative circles
FIRE MATTHEW DOWD with MSNBC. I don’t want an apology. I want you to show you are against hate speech, you are against anti inhumanity. If you don’t fire him, you agree with him. Stop your hate speech NOW, MSNBC!! America believes in FREE SPEECH. God Bless Charlie Kirk & Family. pic.twitter.com/uOI7EtGWAd
— M.E. L. (@RealMaryELemons) September 11, 2025
MSNBC analyst becomes part of the problem injecting political violence
Dowd later releasing an apology on Blue.
‘My thoughts & prayers are w/ the family and friends of Charlie Kirk,’ he wrote.
‘On an earlier appearance on MSNBC I was asked a question on the environment 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.’
Initially, the network had offered a lengthy apology on behalf of Dowd for his ‘choice of words’ after the killing but later Wednesday, Variety reported Dowd had been let go.
‘During our breaking news coverage of the shooting of Charlie Kirk, Matthew Dowd made comments that were inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable. We apologize for his statements, as has he. There is no place for violence in America, political or otherwise,’ MSNBC President Rebecca Kutler said earlier Wednesday.
Dowd joined MSNBC in 2022 after a long stint at ABC News.
Reported FOX News, ‘Dowd, a Democrat who was formerly a Republican strategist and an independent, is one of the most rabidly anti-GOP voices on cable news.’
Leading into the Utah Valley University shooting, the MAGA star, the founder of one of the most influential political organizations in the country, was sitting inside a tented gazebo, fielding questions about mass shootings, when a bullet entered his neck, causing his head to collapse backwards, spouting copious blood and becoming his own victim of gun violence.
An irony not lost on observers and commentators who noted Kirk had been a vocal advocate of the second amendment (the right to bear arms).
Responding to the school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2023, Kirk said the cost of ‘some gun deaths’ is ‘unfortunately’ worth it in order to preserve Second Amendment rights, calling it a ‘prudent deal.’
UVU officials said the shot was fired from the top of the Losee Center, about 200 feet away from where Kirk was sitting on the college campus. Footage captured the un-identified sniper running along the roof seconds after firing the gunshot.
In the hours since the shooting, authorities arrested and released 2 individuals whom they initially suspected of being involved in the shooting. The gunman, FBI Director Kash Patel conceded, continued to remain at large. Where though, remained unclear…
