When news broke Wednesday afternoon that conservative activist Charlie Kirk had been shot at Utah Valley University, something disturbing happened. Mainstream media personalities seemed more interested in providing context that somehow justified the violence. The grotesque spectacle that followed reveals everything wrong with today’s media landscape.
The facts are straightforward enough. Kirk was conducting a Q&A session on campus when a gunshot rang out, striking him near the neck. Video footage shows blood streaming from his wound as shocked onlookers scattered. When reports surfaced that Kirk’s condition was uncertain, the media vultures were already circling with their victim-blaming narratives.
MSNBC was particularly shameless, with anchor Kathy Tur calling Kirk “a divisive figure, um, polarizing, lightning rod, whatever term you wanna use” while reporting on his shooting. This wasn’t journalism; it was character assassination disguised as news coverage.
But the most appalling commentary came from MSNBC contributor Matthew Dowd.
Dowd wasted no time doing what the left always does in moments of crisis—blaming conservatives for the violence committed against them. Immediately after the shocking shooting of Kirk, Dowd didn’t focus on condemning the attack or praying for Kirk’s recovery. Instead, he tried to turn the tragedy into yet another political cudgel against the right.
“We don’t know any of the full details of this, that we don’t know if this was a supporter shooting their gun off in celebration or…. So we have no idea about this,” he mused on air, throwing out baseless hypotheticals as Kirk’s life hung in the balance.
From there, Dowd moved straight into smearing the victim. “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,” he said, as if Kirk’s rhetoric somehow made him responsible for the bullet that struck him.
Dowd doubled down, offering his pseudo-profound take that “hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions.” In other words, according to him, Kirk’s speech—not the deranged individual who pulled the trigger—is to blame for the attack.
“That’s the unfortunate environment we’re in,” Dowd concluded
Matthew Dowd joins Tur. He speculates one of Kirk’s supporters shot him in “celebration.”
He then asserts that Kirk’s own rhetoric brought this about:
“He’s been one of the most divisive, especially divisive younger figures in this who has constantly sort of pushing this sort of… pic.twitter.com/Yjns4YrPRQ— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) September 10, 2025
Dowd’s transformation from Republican strategist to liberal attack dog has been nothing short of remarkable. Dowd spent years as a respected voice in conservative circles, even serving as chief strategist for George W. Bush’s 2004 reelection campaign. I met him back then. He seemed like a good guy and I don’t know what happened to him. Everything changed for Dowd during the Trump era. Rather than maintain his principles, he began openly attacking Donald Trump and the Republican Party, claiming they had abandoned traditional conservatism for “extremism.”
Matthew Dowd’s reaction to Charlie Kirk being shot was the very definition of disgrace. This was moral rot on display. Once a respected Republican strategist, Dowd has now fully embraced the left’s cruelty and hatred, turning his former credibility into a weapon against conservatives. Watching him spin tragedy into a talking point, it’s clear: Matthew Dowd is human garbage, plain and simple.
