Political analyst Matthew Dowd made his remarks after being fired from MSNBC for on-air comments about Charlie Kirk. In the Substack Post, Dowd wrote that his words were “misunderstood,” and that news networks “reacted” to “right-wing media mobs.”
Dowd aired on air shortly after the shooting at Utah Valley University, and when asked by anchor Katie Tar about “an environment where such shootings occur,” Dowd responded to Kirk: To hateful behavior. And I think it’s the environment we are in. You say these awful words and don’t expect them to be the unfortunate environment we are in.
When asked about Kirk on Air, Dowd explained in Substack that “the only thing known at the time was fired and there were no reports that Kirk was a target or had been shot dead.” Approximately 90 minutes after Kirk was shot dead and rushed to the hospital, President Trump made the truth socially announced that right-wing advocates and Turning Point USA leaders had died. The suspect was arrested Friday morning.
“I said we need to get facts because we don’t know what this is and it could be easier to fire a gun in the air to celebrate the event.
In his remarks, Dowd wrote that he intends to tell us, “We are in a toxic time in America, unlike all other democracies in the world where we combine the combination of schizophrenia and almost unlimited access to guns.”
“The right-wing media has been successful, chasing me on many platforms, and MSNBC responded to that mob,” Dowd continued. “Most of MSNBC knew my words were misunderstood, but the timing of my words has been forgotten (don’t forget that I said this before everyone knew Kirk was the target).
A source familiar with the shooting stressed that MSNBC had decided to terminate Dowd’s contract within hours of his on-air statement. Sources claimed that the network does not shake due to external pressure.
Following Dowd’s firing, top executives at Comcast, including CEO Brian Roberts, sent me a memo to all employees of Comcast and NBCuniversal calling for “unacceptable insensible comments about this horrifying event.” The memo said: “The reporting was at odds with promoting civic dialogue and willing to listen to the perspectives of people with different opinions.
On Substack, Dowd writes that he is still “overcoming the shell shocks of the past few days,” focusing on what he does next.
“I was a little depressed and a little disappointed at this moment, but I still have hope and faith in the vast majority of Americans who want the same thing. We can do this,” Dowd concluded.
