Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was shot on Wednesday during a student Q&A at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.
The bullet reportedly struck Kirk in or near the neck as he took questions from students.
On Thursday, MSNBC host Katy Tur discussed the incident during her program.
Tur asked guest Matthew Dowd, “Talk to me about the environment in which a shooting like this happens.”
Dowd responded by first speculating Kirk was shot by a conservative before blaming the 31-year-old for the attack against him.
“Yeah, and again I emphasize what you just emphasized, we don’t know any full details of 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 said.
Dowd then opined that Kirk might have been responsible for the violence against him.
The despicable ghouls at MSNBC immediately attack Charlie Kirk in wake of shooting — Matthew Dowd blames Kirk’s pushing “hate speech” as reason he was shot:
“I always go back to hateful thoughts, lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions.”
“You can’t stop with… pic.twitter.com/Js2uESSZdQ
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) September 10, 2025
He called Kirk “one of the most divisive, especially divisive, younger figures.”
Dowd added that Kirk “is constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech… I always go back to hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions.”
Dowd said the country is in an environment where “you can’t stop with these sort of awful thoughts you have, and then saying these awful words and not expect awful actions take place.”
Tur did not push back on Dowd’s speculation that celebratory gunfire could have been responsible for the shooting.
She also did not challenge his claim that Kirk’s free speech might have played a role in creating an environment that leads to violence.
As of Wednesday afternoon, investigators in Utah had not released information about the suspect or motive.
Kirk’s condition remained unknown as of 4 p.m. ET.
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