A United States of America journalist, Matthew Dowd, a political operative and contributor to MSNBC, has been fired by the news media following a controversial comment he made on Wednesday during an on-air session, just minutes after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Dowd’s comments were met with strong criticism, forcing the hands of MSNBC President Rebecca Kutler to issue an apology statement, and Dowd was subsequently fired, as reported by The Hill, a prominent US political news platform.
During the on-air program, Dowd allegedly criticised the activities of Kirk, stating that the deceased is constantly pushing hate speech aimed at certain groups.
“We don’t know any of the details of this, we don’t know if this was a supporter shooting their gun off in celebration,” Dowd said while appearing on the network, calling Kirk “one of the more divisive figures in this.”
“He was constantly pushing this sort of hate speech aimed at certain groups,” Dowd continued. “And I always go back to: Hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions. … You can’t say these awful words and not expect awful actions to take place.”
MSNBC President Rebecca Kutler, in her statement, condemned Dowd’s statements, describing them as inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable.
“During our breaking news coverage of the shooting of Charlie Kirk, Matthew Dowd made comments that were inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable,” Kutler said.
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“We apologise for his statements, as he has. There is no place for violence in America, political or otherwise,” Kutler concluded.
Dowd reportedly joined the network in 2022 and was fired by the network over his comments. And he issued an apology online afterwards.
“My thoughts & prayers are with/ the family and friends of Charlie Kirk. On an earlier appearance on MSNBC, I was asked a question about the environment we are in. I apologise 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,” he wrote.
TVC previously reported that the United States President, Donald Trump has announced early Friday that a suspect in Charlie Kirk’s assassination was turned in by his father, with the suspect identified as Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old Utah student.
Trump stated this during a live interview session, Fox & Friends in the Manhattan studio at Fox News, explaining that the father of the suspects turned him alleging that his son was full of hate ahead of Charlie Kirk’s Utah programme.
“I think, with a high degree of certainty, we have him,” Trump stated
