Democrat-turned Republican-turned independent-turned Democrat Matthew Dowd was fired from his MSNBC commentator position for speculating that Charlie Kirk was shot by someone firing their gun in celebration and for saying, “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.” On Thursday, he joined former NBC and CBS anchor Katie Couric on her Substack to attack MSNBC for dismissing him and lamented that the left has made Jimmy Kimmel their free speech champion instead of him.
Couric led Dowd with the unintentionally hilarious observation that “MSNBC, to me, kind of, stood apart as a news organization that really encouraged, kind of, civil discourse. And I think what you said was manipulated and misinterpreted. And I don't know, they get criticized, you know, they're, like, featured on Fox News every night, you know. So—”
Civil discourse? What about never-ending accusations of Nazism, fascism, racism, sexism, and every other "ism" and phobia is civil?
Couric’s bizarre comments aside, Dowd interrupted to lament, “You know—and you mentioned Jimmy Kimmel. What's amazing and now—if you watch any of their shows in the last 24 hours, all the shows are talking about how like this is awful for America that Jimmy Kimmel was, you know, indefinitely suspended and isn't this awful for America and it's a chilling thing for the First Amendment, and all—they're saying that on every platform.”
Dowd was just getting started. Next, he went after Morning Joe co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, “Not one person has said anything about me. Not one person on that network has said they've all gone out of their way to say, "Isn't this horrible what happened to Jimmy Kimmel? Isn’t—" even including Morning Joe and Mika who went after me after the show, basically saying it they were glad I was terminated, and now today they're talking about how awful it is for our country that somebody like Jimmy Kimmel can't say what he said and he is indefinitely suspended, and not an iota about what their employer just did to another employee.”
According to the liberal perspective, Jimmy Kimmel was yanked off the air because ABC and/or its affiliates were bullied by President Donald Trump and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. That explanation has its problems, mainly in that ABC’s parent company, Disney, was willing to let Kimmel keep hosting the show, but his planned monologue that would’ve brutally attacked his critics was deemed too volatile in the current moment. Even still, the FCC has no authority over cable and therefore no authority over MSNBC. The network made its own decision, and not even liberals can pretend there was unconstitutional pressure applied in MSNBC’s case.
Nevertheless, Couric wondered, “Did you hear from any of the anchors or correspondents?”
Dowd’s answer did not inspire confidence in MSNBC’s on-air talent, “Some of them. Yeah. I mean, and all of them, all the ones that I heard from, were like, ‘I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. This is awful. I can't believe this has happened. I can't believe this has happened. This is horrible. This is horrible. It doesn't say, it doesn't say good things about our company.’ This is from anchors on air. ‘That doesn't say good things about our company. And, you know, it's not a good thing. And I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry.’ And that's what they say.”
Earlier, Dowd tried to defend himself by saying that he was commenting on a breaking news story when we did not know what we would eventually learn. Of course, that doesn’t explain “hateful thoughts lead to hateful words.”
Here is a transcript for the September 18 show:
Katie Couric’s Substack
9/18/2025
KATIE COURIC: MSNBC, to me, kind of, stood apart as a news organization that really encouraged, kind of, civil discourse. And I think what you said was manipulated and misinterpreted. And I don't know, they get criticized, you know, they're, like, featured on Fox News every night, you know. So—
MATTHEW DOWD: You know—and you mentioned Jimmy Kimmel. What's amazing and now—if you watch any of their shows in the last 24 hours, all the shows are talking about how like this is awful for America that Jimmy Kimmel was, you know, indefinitely suspended and isn't this awful for America and it's a chilling thing for the First Amendment, and all — they're saying that on every platform.
Not one person has said anything about me. Not one person on that network has said they've all gone out of their way to say, "Isn't this horrible what happened to Jimmy Kimmel? Isn’t—" even including Morning Joe and Mika who went after me after the show, basically saying it they were glad I was terminated, and now today they're talking about how awful it is for our country that somebody like Jimmy Kimmel can't say what he said and he is indefinitely suspended, and not an iota about what their employer just did to another employee.
COURIC: Did you hear from any of the anchors or correspondents?
DOWD: Some of them. Yeah. I mean, and all of them, all the ones that I heard from, were like, "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. This is awful. I can't believe this has happened. I can't believe this has happened. This is horrible. This is horrible. It doesn't say, it doesn't say good things about our company.”
This is from anchors on air. “That doesn't say good things about our company. And, you know, it's not a good thing. And I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." And that's what they say.
