MSNBC has officially fired Matthew Dowd due to inappropriate comments made following the death of Charlie Kirk in Utah. “We don’t know if this was a supporter shooting their gun off in celebration. So we have no idea about this,” Dowd said in his last public appearance. The implications made by this were deemed “inappropriate, insensitive, and unacceptable” by Rebecca Kutler, President of MSNBC.
Before being fired, Dowd was also quoted as saying, “Hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions.” He then added: “You can’t stop with these sort of awful thoughts you have and then saying these awful words and then not expect awful actions to take place.” His words following the tragedy held weight with many viewers, who were shocked to hear them from a political analyst.
“Excuse me? A supporter’s gun ‘going off’ in celebration?” One TikTok user specializing in politics, @jeffery.mead, responded to the news clip. “The one perfect shot that likely hits him in his carotid artery, he falls over with blood spurting out of his neck, we’re going to say that might have just been one of his fans just celebrating?” He went on in the video, adding: “Not multiple shots. One shot. Placed essentially perfectly.”
Mead goes on to reference the precise aim of the shot, along with the ignorance of claiming it was accidental. “These people are despicable,” he says. “They’re trying to preserve some ounce of narrative control, praying this wasn’t someone who agrees with them.” Mead also notes the alternative: acknowledging the truth of what may have happened. “He [Dowd] could have admitted, ‘Hey, this could be a radical. Someone who’s been radicalized and hates conservatives and MAGA.’ He could have mentioned that, but of course not. He’s not going to say that.”
Mead ends the video with a call to action by professional media outlets. “These people and organizations need to be called out repeatedly.”
