Ex-Bush strategist once called the Bible ‘a book filled with much fiction’
Cable news network MSNBC has reportedly fired veteran political analyst Matthew Dowd following widespread backlash to his on-air comments linking conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s “hate speech” to the “environment” that led to the 31-year-old’s fatal shooting in Utah.
The exchange came during MSNBC’s live coverage of the tragedy on Wednesday, shortly after Kirk, the co-founder of Turning Point USA, was shot in the neck from long range while addressing a crowd of about 3,000 at a Utah Valley University event. Kirk was pronounced dead a short time later.
As details emerged of the attack, which Utah Gov. Spencer Cox described as a “political assassination,” anchor Katy Tur turned to Dowd with a question about “the environment in which a shooting like this happens.”
Dowd’s response zeroed in on Kirk, whom he called “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.”
The despicable ghouls at MSNBC immediately attack Charlie Kirk in wake of shooting — Matthew Dowd blames Kirk’s pushing “hate speech” as reason he was shot:
“I always go back to hateful thoughts, lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions.”
“You can’t stop with… pic.twitter.com/Js2uESSZdQ
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) September 10, 2025
Dowd continued, “And I always go back to, hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions. And I think that is the environment we are 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.”
The segment, which was broadcast against the backdrop of Kirk being shot mid-sentence while fielding a question on mass shootings, quickly went viral on social media. Conservative voices, including Fox News host Jesse Watters, predicted Dowd would be “terminated within 24 hours,” while hashtags like #FireDowd trended across social media.
“I expect him to be terminated within 24 hours,” Watters said in a Fox News segment on Wednesday. “You can’t say Charlie deserved to die. Just can’t say that, and I hope he loses his job. It’s dangerous, Greg. That’s the message. It’s dangerous to open your mouth, so shut it. That’s the message they’re sending, and they usually send messages to the politicians, whether it’s Trump, JFK, Reagan, whatever. Or John Lennon, you know? Take a shot at the biggest star in the world.”
MSNBC President Rebecca Kutler swiftly addressed the firestorm in a statement posted to the network’s public relations X account condemning Dowd’s comments as “inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable.”
“We apologize for his statements, as has he,” Kutler added. “There is no place for violence in America, political or otherwise.”
Dowd, a former chief strategist for George W. Bush’s 2004 reelection campaign who joined MSNBC in 2022 after years at ABC News, apologized for his comments Wednesday afternoon in a post on Bluesky.
“My thoughts & prayers are w/ the family and friends of Charlie Kirk,” he wrote. “On an earlier appearance on MSNBC I was asked a question on the environment we are in. I apologize 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.”
Despite the apology, Dowd was fired by MSNBC by Wednesday evening, according to Variety.
Dowd, who ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat in the 2021 Texas lieutenant gubernatorial race, has publicly identified as both a Christian and a Catholic.
In a now-deleted 2017 tweet, he once wrote, “I am Catholic. Being Christian is a state of being. Practicing love. Some of the most Christian folks I know in life are atheists.”
In an April post, he called himself a “Christian” who reads the Bible, which he described as “a book filled with much fiction.”
“As a [C]hristian & someone who reads the [B]ible every day, let’s all remember that it isn’t a science book or a documented history book, it is a book filled with much fiction and stories with some non-fiction elements,” Dowd wrote. “And it is highly subject to interpretation. I tend to focus on the words of Jesus.”
