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An unusual media saga unfolded in 2025 when MSNBC fired political analyst Matthew Dowd in September for suggesting “hateful” rhetoric from Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk led to his own assassination.
Kirk, a leading conservative activist and top ally of President Donald Trump, died at the age of 31 after he was shot while holding an event on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. In a stunning moment, Dowd suggested that Kirk’s assassination was caused by a chain reaction from his “hateful words” against various groups.
Dowd said Kirk has 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. And I always go back to, hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions.”
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“I think that’s the environment 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 environment we’re in,” he added.
Before the news that Kirk had died, Dowd also told 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.”
MSNBC, which has since been rebranded as MS NOW, publicly condemned Dowd’s comments before he was officially terminated.
“During our breaking news coverage of the shooting of Charlie Kirk, Matthew Dowd made comments that were inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable,” MS NOW President Rebecca Kutler said in a statement. “We apologize for his statements, as has he. There is no place for violence in America, political or otherwise.”
Dowd’s comments were widely condemned in the wake of the tragic shooting, with numerous figures calling for his termination. White House staffers were even enraged by Dowd’s comments.
“They are scumbags. They need to look inward and realize they are hurting this nation with their awful rhetoric,” a senior Trump administration official told Fox News Digital in reaction to the MSNBC segment.
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Dowd, who joined MSNBC in 2022 after a long stint at ABC News, tried to backtrack on the liberal social media platform Bluesky.
“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,” Dowd wrote.
Dowd, a Democrat who was formerly a Republican strategist and an independent, is one of the most rabidly anti-GOP voices on cable news. He made a failed bid for the Democratic nomination for Texas lieutenant governor in 2021. Since ABC News showed him the door, Dowd has since launched a Substack and has defended his remarks.
“At MSNBC I have made nearly 1,000 appearances, speaking on a diverse range of topics and always consistently condemned gun violence and political violence of any kind no matter where it came from. This past Wednesday I was asked to come on to talk about a range of topics, and as I was about to go on air, breaking news happened of gun shots being fired at a Kirk event in Utah,” Dowd wrote in a Substack post.
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“Keep in mind when the anchor came to me to comment on the ‘national environment,’ the only thing known at the time was shots were fired and there was no reporting yet that Kirk was the target or had been shot at,” he continued. “I said in the moment that we needed to get the facts because we have no idea what this could be and that it could easily be someone firing a gun in the air to celebrate the event. Remember Kirk is a diehard advocate of the 2nd amendment.”
Dowd added: ” I said my now legendary line ‘hateful thoughts lead to hateful words which ultimately lead to hateful actions.’ I thought to myself how could anyone disagree with this. I guess I was naïve… the Right-Wing media mob ginned up, went after me on a plethora of platforms, and MSNBC reacted to that mob.”
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