MSNBC faced a firestorm this week after former political analyst Matthew Dowd was fired for comments about Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist killed earlier this month.
Dowd, 64, a former George W. Bush advisor turned liberal network contributor, had suggested that Kirk’s rhetoric contributed to his own death.
“All the shows, they’re talking about like, how awful it is, how awful for America that Jimmy Kimmel was, you know, was indefinitely suspended, and — they’re saying that on every platform,” Dowd told Katie Couric in an interview following his termination.
“Not one person has said anything about me! Not one person on that network has said– they’ve all gone out of their way to say ‘isn’t this horrible what happened to Jimmy Kimmel’ — isn’t even including ‘Morning Joe’ and Mika [Brzezinski] who went after me after the show, basically saying how great it was that I was terminated,” he added.
Dowd had joined MSNBC as part of the network’s roster of Republican defectors who turned on their party, including Steve Schmidt and Stuart Stevens. His fall illustrates the network’s increasingly selective outrage in the wake of Kirk’s assassination.
Hours after Kirk was shot, Dowd commented on the conservative activist’s influence, per Trending Politics.
“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,” he said. “I think that’s the environment we’re in, that the people just — 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’re in.”
MSNBC President Rebecca Kutler issued a statement announcing the firing.
“During our breaking news coverage of the shooting of Charlie Kirk, Matthew Dowd made comments that were inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable,” she said.
“We apologize for his statements, as has he. There is no place for violence in America, political or otherwise,” Kutler added.
Dowd’s complaints highlight a glaring double standard, as he pointed out that other media figures facing network consequences were treated differently. His frustration centers on the fact that similar or more egregious incidents involving liberal personalities like Jimmy Kimmel receive extensive public sympathy.
“Not an iota about what their employer just did to another employee!” Dowd said.
The termination comes amid heightened tensions in the media following the assassination of Kirk, who was shot by a far-left gunman allegedly motivated by the activist’s stances on transgender issues. The shooter, Tyler Robinson, was living with a “transgender” roommate at the time, intensifying the political firestorm.
MSNBC’s swift action in firing Dowd underscores the network’s approach to covering Kirk’s death, while also revealing the fragile position of so-called Republican analysts on liberal platforms. Dowd’s termination sparked debate over free speech, media bias, and the selective enforcement of standards when it comes to political commentary.
The story adds to a growing list of liberal media missteps in responding to political violence.
