Dowd: MSNBC Reacted to Right-Wing Mob in Firing Me for Kirk Commentary

Political analyst Matthew Dowd says MSNBC reacted to a “right wing media mob” in firing him for commentary about rhetoric that aired on the network shortly after early reports this week that conservative activist Charlie Kirk had been shot.

In a Substack post Friday, Dowd admitted to being “down and a bit disheartened." The former aide to George W. Bush, who was a political analyst at ABC News for nearly 15 years before joining MSNBC in 2022, alleged a long-running grudge that President Donald Trump had against him since his first term.

Dowd was fired after his commentary on Kirk, in which he said “hateful thoughts lead to hateful words which ultimately lead to hateful actions.” MSNBC President Rebecca Kutler called the remarks insensitive and apologized to viewers. Dowd apologized, too, saying he didn't mean to imply Kirk was to blame for the violence that killed him.

At the time he spoke, Dowd wrote, he was responding to reports of a shooting at Kirk's appearance, when it wasn't even clear that Kirk has been hit. He said on the air that Kirk was a divisive and polarizing figure. He thought “how could anyone disagree with this?” he wrote on Substack. “I guess I was naive.”

“The right wing media mob ginned up, went after me on a plethora of platforms, and MSNBC reacted to that mob,” Dowd wrote on Substack. “Even though most at MSNBC knew my words were being misconstrued, the timing of my words forgotten ... and that I apologized for any miscommunication on my part, I was terminated by the end of the day."

But people at MSNBC knew right away that his words were inappropriate, and the decision to fire Dowd was not the result of outside pressure, said an executive at the network, who spoke under condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to talk about personnel issues.

Reverberations over the firing continued Friday, with a memo sent to Comcast employees by Brian Roberts, CEO of the company that owns MSNBC; Comcast President Mike Cavanagh; and Mark Lazarus, CEO of Versant, the spinoff company that is to take over MSNBC ownership — if it receives Trump administration approval.

Without using Dowd's name, it referred to the firing and said his comments were “at odds with fostering civil dialogue and being willing to listen to the points of view of those who have differing opinions. We should be able to disagree, robustly and passionately, but, ultimately with respect. We need to do better.”

The letter urged employees to “engage with respect, listen, and treat people with kindness.”