MSNBC analyst Matthew Dowd stands firm after 'misconstrued' Charlie Kirk comments led to termination
MSNBC political analyst Matthew Dowd defended himself after being sacked by MSNBC for disparaging comments he made over Charlie Kirk as he reported on his shooting and death
Former MSNBC political analyst Matthew Dowd has stood by his comments over Charlie Kirk that saw him sacked.
Dowd has claimed that what he said was "misconstrued" and that the network had only fired him over pressure from a conservative "mob." The host had been reporting on Charlie Kirk being shot in the neck and killed at Utah Valley University on Wednesday, Sept. 10, when he called him "divisive" and suggested that his "hate speech" was the reason he was killed.
He said, "And I always go back to, hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions." He also speculated that the gun may have been fired by a fan celebrating at the event. Authorities have since arrested 22-year-old Tyler Robinson under suspicion of carrying out the brutal murder.
He later went on to apologize for his comments, before it was announced by MSNBC that he had been fired. He has since written a lengthy post on Substack where he accuses the network of getting rid of him because of the "Right Wing media mob."
He wrote, "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."
A company-wide memo from Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, Comcast President Mike Cavanagh, and Versant CEO Mark Lazarus sent on Friday said Dowd's comments had been "unacceptable and insensitive."
It read, "That coverage was at odds with fostering civil dialogue and being willing to listen to the points of view of those who have differing opinions. We need to do better."
During his live analysis while the news was breaking, Dowd spent time characterizing Kirk's views with pointed jabs.
Talking as news of the shooting was breaking Dowd took several swipes at Kirk. He said, "I think that's the environment that we're in that people just... you can't stop with these 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."
Defending his comments Dowd shared that "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 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."
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