Matthew Dowd, a newly unemployed man as far as the media pundit sphere goes, would like you to know that MSNBC is responsible for caving to a “Right Wing media mob” who noticed what he said about Charlie Kirk.
Dowd — a former chief strategist for the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign who became the designated Not That Kind Of Conservative™ on several establishment news outlets — was fired by MSNBC shortly after he made remarks which intimated that Kirk essentially deserved his own murder and that maybe it was some random conservative yahoo shooting off his gun in celebration that killed the 31-year-old Turning Point USA founder.
Kirk, Dowd said on air in the wake of Kirk’s assassination on Wednesday, was “one of the most divisive, especially divisive, younger figures” who “is constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech.”
“I always go back to hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions,” Dowd said.
“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.”
He added that the shooting might have been “a supporter shooting their gun off in celebration,” a ridiculous notion that made his firing that much more inevitable.
The despicable ghouls at MSNBC immediately attack Charlie Kirk in wake of shooting — Matthew Dowd blames Kirk’s pushing “hate speech” as reason he was shot:
“I always go back to hateful thoughts, lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions.”
“You can’t stop with… pic.twitter.com/Js2uESSZdQ
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) September 10, 2025
Dowd was indeed promptly sacked by the network, with MSNBC president Rebecca Kutler calling his comments “inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable.”
Should Matthew Dowd have been fired?
Dowd took to Substack on Friday in an attempt to explain himself, and made these thoroughly non-exculpatory points in his defense, seriatim:
a) We didn’t know Kirk was dead at the time he made the remarks in question.
b) Remember, Kirk believes in gun rights, too! That’s why he made the remark about the shooting being accidental.
c) He stood by precisely what he said, only restated in slightly more restrained terms.
d) A “Right Wing media mob” was responsible for, you know, noticing what he said.
e) Dowd had “apologized for any miscommunication on my part” — which is a nice way of saying that you didn’t understand what he was saying because you took his words at face value, jerk.
From his Substack:
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. 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.
I said that Kirk has been a very divisive and polarizing figure. I then added that we are in a toxic time in America, unlike every other democracy in the world, where we have a combination of divisiveness and near unlimited access to guns. The effort by Holocaust survivors to remind folks of Germany in the 1930s #ItStartedWithWords came to my mind and 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 naive.
The Right Wing media mob ginned up, went after me on a plethora of platforms, and MSNBC reacted to that mob. Even though most at MSNBC knew my words were being misconstrued, the timing of my words forgotten (remember I said this before anyone knew Kirk was a target), and that I apologized for any miscommunication on my part, I was terminated by the end of the day.
Let’s go through those points one by one, absurd though they may be on face.
First, whether or not you know someone is alive or dead doesn’t excuse appalling comments you make about them; I’m not sure how this could be more self-evident. If a political figure has been shot, it’s time for reservations — not for well-you-know-they-probably-had-it-coming rhetoric. The fact Dowd couldn’t resist makes his remarks particularly galling, especially if he was remarking on the nature of the “national environment” — which, as this clip amply proved, he’s only making worse by his presence.
Second, the idea that some conservative shot Kirk in a fit of Yosemite Sam-like rapturous glee is beyond preposterous, even on MSNBC. Dowd ought to (and does, I am almost certain) know better. Even if he did not, that still should be a reason to occasion his summary firing and preclude his hiring at another outlet until an actual apology is offered, repeatedly and at length.
Thirdly, Dowd’s restatement of his original remarks in his post is just an ever-so-slightly nicer way of saying the same things he got fired because of — except arguably worse, because bringing up the specter of fascism makes Kirk’s slaying look called for, again. And yet, he wonders aloud why anyone could disagree with these thoughts. To call this “naïveté” indicates just how far gone Dowd is.
And then, another version of the “Republicans Pounce” feint offered by Dowd in his own defense: “The Right Wing media mob ginned up.” Yes, people noticed what you said on national TV, Matthew, as a husband and father was dying in Utah. Funny how that works: a “mob” pays attention to the words coming out of your mouth and demands accountability for them.
Finally, note that Dowd offers the coward’s apology — he was sorry “for any miscommunication on my part,” according to his own recounting. In other words, sorry if “I always go back to hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions” didn’t come across the way he apparently meant it. (Which, by the sound of his “apology,” is precisely how he meant it, but why let facts get in our way?)
He adds that “most at MSNBC knew my words were being misconstrued.” If true, this says more about MSNBC than it does Dowd’s abominable remarks.
His comments may have been vile — but, by offering an apology for himself that was arguably worse, Dowd proved his firing wasn’t just a knee-jerk reaction to a “mob,” but wholly warranted. The fact he still doesn’t understand that proves how deplorably thick the bubble the left-wing media lives in really is. You don’t loathe these people enough.
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