Matthew Dowd, a longtime political strategist and commentator, was fired from MSNBC in September 2025 after making controversial on-air remarks about Charlie Kirk following his fatal shooting. MSNBC President Rebecca Kutler called the remarks “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,” read Kutler’s statement. “We apologize for his statements, as has he. There is no place for violence in America, political or otherwise.”
Learn more about him and what he said below.
Dowd is a political consultant and pundit who has been a strategist and analyst for many years. He was chief strategist for the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign and later worked as a political commentator at ABC News. He joined MSNBC in 2022.
On the air, Dowd described Kirk as “one of the most divisive, especially divisive younger figures … who is constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech … aimed at certain groups.”
He added, “And I always go back to, hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions. And I think that’s the environment we’re in. 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.”
After the backlash, he apologized, stating he did not intend to blame Kirk for the attack. “My thoughts and prayers are with 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,” Dowd said via BlueSky. “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.”
