MSNBC has issued an apology and fired political consultant Matthew Dowd after comments he delivered shortly after the assassination of Turning Point USA co-founder and conservative activist Charlie Kirk that the broadcaster deemed inappropriate.
The statement was posted to the MSNBC Public Relations X account rather than the company’s main account, which has drawn some backlash from X users.
Newsweek reached out to MSNBC via email outside of normal business hours for additional comment.
The Context
Kirk was fatally shot during a question-and-answer session on the Utah Valley University campus in Orem, Utah, on Wednesday afternoon. Video captured the moment when Kirk was shot and the crowd that had gathered to see him speak instead scattered in fear.
A federal investigation is ongoing, with official details about any persons of interest and potential motive still limited on Wednesday night.
In a statement from the Utah Department of Public Safety and FBI Salt Lake City office posted to X by NBC News correspondent Tom Winter, the agencies said that two persons of interest had been taken into custody and later released.
One man, George Zinn, was charged with obstruction, while the second, Zachariah Qureshi, was merely interrogated, according to the statement. Neither individual has any current ties to the shooting, the agencies confirmed.
What To Know
Dowd, appearing on the channel after the shooting, responded to a question about “the environment in which a shooting like this happens.”
In response, Dowd said that 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.”
“And I think that is the environment we are in,” Dowd continued. “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 are in.”
Political analyst Matthew Dowd on MSNBC wonders whether the Charlie Kirk shooting may have been “a supporter shooting their gun off in celebration.” pic.twitter.com/cW3IQzLEcD
— The Recount (@therecount) September 10, 2025
Dowd also said that details remained scarce and that “we don’t know if this was a supporter shooting their gun off in celebration. So we have no idea about this.”
MSNBC President Rebecca Kutler said in her statement that Dowd’s comments were “inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable.”
“We apologize for his statements, as has he,” Kutler wrote. “There is no place for violence in America, political or otherwise.”
Not long after that initial statement, Deadline reported that MSNBC had cut ties with Dowd, citing the “furor over remarks he made in the aftermath of the shooting.”
Dowd released his own statement on Bluesky, in which he wrote that he “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,” additionally apologizing for his “tone and words.”
Dowd is best known as chief strategist for the George W. Bush–Dick Cheney 2004 presidential campaign and is a former ABC News political analyst.
What People Are Saying
Kutler, in a statement posted to X: “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.”
Dowd, in a statement posted to Bluesky: “My thoughts & prayers are w/ the family and friends of Charlie Kirk. 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.”
President Donald Trump, in a post to Truth Social: “The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!”
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