UPDATE 1: Charlie Kirk had succumbed to his injury.
UPDATE 2: MSNBC has issued a statement about the comments made by Matthew Dowd. Read more below.
In the immediate aftermath of conservative influencer and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was fatally shot in the neck at Utah Valley University, MSNBC’s Katy Tur disgustingly took to her eponymous show and smeared him for his politics. She was also joined by vile former Republican strategist Matthew Dowd, who also attacked Kirk while his life was dangling by a thread.
While playing video of the panicked crowd scattering after the shot was fired, Tur diabolically described Kirk as “a divisive figure, polarizing, lightning rod. Whatever term you want to use.”
She then seemingly asked MSNBC political Allen Smith “why” someone would want Kirk dead. “One of MAGA’s most prominent voices online. He hosts a near-daily podcast. He opines on almost everything. He's been very closely aligned with the President since his initial run for office in 2015-2015,” he said.
A few minutes later, Allen noted that Kirk had, “been front and center on a lot of the more divisive social and cultural issues that have driven the MAGA movement. I mean, you talk about trans rights, a lot of issues around racial justice. He has taken the sort of contrarian, more MAGA approach to a lot of these issues and he has, you know, he's been pretty inflammatory in his rhetoric through - throughout the years.”
Tur also seemed to hint that Utah’s gun laws could be to blame, noting the state’s “constitutional carry” laws. Adding:
Individuals 21 or older can legally own a gun and carry it openly or concealed in public without a permit. Again, no permit is required or needed to buy or possess a firearm. There's no waiting period, no state mandate, state mandated time period for firearm purchases. Utah does not require the registration of firearms.
When Dowd was brought in, he erroneously speculated that Kirk was shot by one of his supporters. “We don’t know any of the specific details of this yet. We don't know if this was a supporter shooting their gun off in celebration or – so, we have not idea,” he declared.
Seeming to suggest that Kirk got what was coming to him, Dowd accused Kirk of using “hate speech.” “He's been one of the most divisive, especially divisive younger figures in this -- who has constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech or sort of aimed at certain groups,” Dowd ghoulishly sneered.
Dowd then asserted that Kirk created the environment that got him shot:
“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 that, that 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.
In a post on X, MSNBC Public relations issued a statement disavowing Dowd's comments: "“During our breaking news coverage of the shooting of Charlie Kirk, Matthew Dowd made comments that were inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable. We apologize for his statements, as has he. There is no place for violence in America, political or otherwise."
