MSNBC Fires Analyst Who Suggested Hateful Rhetoric Might Inspire Hate

NEW YORK — MSNBC announced Tuesday it had severed ties with political analyst Matthew Dowd after he committed the network’s gravest on-air offense: suggesting that a man famous for incendiary rhetoric might, in fact, have incited someone.

Dowd, appearing during breaking coverage of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, noted that “hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions.” Executives later clarified that this chain of logic was “not in line with our brand,” which prefers to treat political violence like a random, arbitrary event.

Right-wing outlets hailed the firing as a victory, applauding MSNBC for punishing someone who merely described the obvious. The White House applauded as well, with one senior aide declaring, “Finally, accountability for people who think out loud.”

Kirk himself had long been lauded for his blunt talk—celebrated, even—before an unidentified gunman opened fire while he addressed a Turning Point USA crowd at Utah Valley. Yet the suggestion that Kirk’s decades of invective might have mattered was deemed “unacceptable speculation.”

Dowd has since apologized for “violating the sacred firewall between cause and effect.” MSNBC promised to fill his slot with an expert who will “respect the vague mystery of political violence in America.”