‘I’m Not In Favor’: Chris Cuomo Calls MSNBC Firing Of Dowd ‘Easy Way Out,’ Disagrees With It

NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo said Thursday on his show that MSNBC’s reported firing of political analyst Matthew Dowd after his “unacceptable” comments about the murder of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was the “easy way out” and that he does not agree with firing people “for what they say.”

According to Variety, Dowd was reportedly fired by MSNBC late Wednesday evening, just hours after the network’s president, Rebecca Kutler, released a statement condemning the analyst’s coverage. Speaking about Kirk’s death on “Cuomo,” conservative commentator Benny Johnson referenced Dowd’s comments as news of the shooting broke.

“In fact, Chris, on MSNBC, after Charlie Kirk was shot, there was a guest who said that he deserved it. Matthew Dowd. And so — ” Johnson said before Cuomo stepped in.

“Matthew Dowd didn’t say he deserved it. He said that this was the fruit of the poisonous tree of what Charlie had been saying and what he’d been provoking. Now, look, Benny, I let you go there because — ” Cuomo responded before Johnson attempted to push back.

Reports broke on Wednesday afternoon that Kirk had been shot while speaking and debating with students at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. Kirk had regularly appeared on various college campuses throughout his career, engaging students in debates on differing political views.

During the breaking news, Dowd had joined “Katy Tur Reports,” suggesting that Kirk’s push of “hate speech” toward certain groups made him an inevitable target. The political analyst added that Kirk had been “one of the most divisive” conservative figures, claiming he was “constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech or sort of aimed at certain groups.”

Johnson continued to push back against Cuomo, stating that Dowd had “clearly” got fired for his comments. (RELATED: FBI Releases Photos Of Person Of Interest In Charlie Kirk Murder Search)

“He got fired, which is a counterfactual to your theory. He got fired, and by the way, I’m not in favor of people getting fired for what they say. It’s mixed—it’s tough. It’s a tough call. I get it, but I’m so afraid of censorship that it makes it hard for me,” Cuomo said. “I don’t like what Dowd said. I would have chewed him up and spat him out if he were on my show and said it, which didn’t happen with MSNBC. But firing him is the easy way out for MSNBC.”

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“But, Benny, here’s the one thing. I don’t really care how we got here so much. There is a lot of blame to go around. I do not see you guys as victims. You give as good as you get. There is a lot of anger. There is a lot of exaggeration. It is all hate for profit  on the fringe of this battling binary political system,” Cuomo added. “My question is, now what?”

Johnson quickly stepped in to push back against Cuomo, saying  Kirk “has never advocated violence ever,” to which the NewsNation host responded that wasn’t what he had said.

In response to Dowd’s comments, Kutler later released a statement on the network’s public relations X account. Despite the MSNBC president calling out Dowd’s “inappropriate” comments, a review of two live TV transcription services said the network had not read the apology on air.

“During our breaking news coverage of the shooting of Charlie Kirk, Matthew Dowd made comments that were inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable. We apologize for his statements, as has he. There is no place for violence in America, political or otherwise,” Kutler wrote.

The TPUSA founder had been speaking and debating with students for roughly 20 minutes when the shot struck him. Despite security rushing him to the hospital and reports of him being in stable condition, Kirk eventually succumbed to his injuries.

Kirk is survived by his wife, Erika, and two children. His casket was seen Thursday evening being loaded onto Air Force Two, with Vice President JD Vance helping to carry it.

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