Fired MSNBC analyst Matthew Dowd defends his Charlie Kirk comments

Former MSNBC analyst Matthew Dowd tried to defend the controversial comments he made about Charlie Kirk this week and took a swipe at his former employer on Friday for caving to a “mob.”

Dowd was dropped by the progressive network after suggesting the conservative activist’s “hateful” rhetoric had prompted the shooting in Utah that ultimately claimed his life, but he insisted he didn’t know Kirk was the victim at the time of his remarks.

“At MSNBC I have made nearly 1,000 appearances, speaking on a diverse range of topics and always consistently condemned gun violence and political violence of any kind no matter where it came from. This past Wednesday I was asked to come on to talk about a range of topics, and as I was about to go on air, breaking news happened of gun shots being fired at a Kirk event in Utah,” the fired pundit wrote in a Substack post.

“Keep in mind when the anchor came to me to comment on the ‘national environment,’ the only thing known at the time was shots were fired and there was no reporting yet that Kirk was the target or had been shot at. I said in the moment that we needed to get the facts because we have no idea what this could be and that it could easily be someone firing a gun in the air to celebrate the event. Remember Kirk is a diehard advocate of the 2nd amendment,” he continued. 

MSNBC FIRES ANALYST MATTHEW DOWD FOR ‘UNACCEPTABLE’ COMMENTS ABOUT CHARLIE KIRK

Dowd attempted to link his comments accusing Kirk of spewing “hateful” rhetoric to wisdom handed down by Holocaust survivors describing 1930s Germany and how “#ItStartedWithWords” came to mind.

“And I said my now legendary line ‘hateful thoughts lead to hateful words which ultimately lead to hateful actions.’ I thought to myself how could anyone disagree with this. I guess I was naive,” Dowd wrote. “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.”

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Dowd’s comments during MSNBC’s breaking news coverage of Kirk’s assassination sparked backlash across social media.

Before his firing, MSNBC President Rebecca Kutler released a statement calling Dowd’s comments “inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable” and issued an apology. 

On Friday, top executives at Comcast, MSNBC’s current parent company, and Versant, its soon-to-be parent, reprimanded employees for the insensitive coverage.

“You may have seen that MSNBC recently ended its association with a contributor who made an unacceptable and insensitive comment about this horrific event,” Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, President Mike Cavanagh and prospective Versant CEO Mark Lazarus wrote in a memo to staff. “That coverage was 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.”

COMCAST EXECUTIVES SCOLD STAFFERS TO ‘DO BETTER’ OVER MSNBC COVERAGE OF CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSINATION

Kirk, the prominent conservative activist and co-founder of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed at a campus event Wednesday at Utah Valley University. He was 31. 

The suspect, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, was arrested Thursday night.

Fox News Digital reached out to MSNBC for comment.

Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.