Maria Shriver Won’t Abandon Matthew Dowd After MSNBC Fires Him

Despite the video showing the bullet piercing Kirk’s neck with a devastating effect, Dowd insinuated that the Republican political insider could have brought the horrific incident on himself.

“He’s been 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. And I think that is the environment we are in,” Dowd declared.

He added: “You can’t stop with these sorts 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.”

Hours later, MSNBC president Rebecca Kutle called Dowd’s statements “inappropriate, insensitive, and unacceptable” in a post on X.

In a lengthy Substack post on Friday, September 12, a defiant Dowd blamed his network for overreacting when firing him.

“The right-wing media mob ginned up, went after me on a plethora of platforms, and MSNBC reacted to that mob. Even though most at MSNBC knew my words were being misconstrued, the timing of my words forgotten (remember I said this before anyone knew Kirk was a target), and that I apologized for any miscommunication on my part, I was terminated by the end of the day,” he wrote.

“I am getting over the shell shock of the past few days, and will turn my gaze on adventures and the journey ahead. And a big part of that will be using my voice on this and other platforms to advocate for finding ways to unite our country around a common-sense vision of ideals and values,” Dowd added.