Matthew Dowd for the burn...

[lapucelle]

[progressoid]

1. To be fair he said a little more than that.

Last edited Sat Sep 20, 2025, 06:21 PM - Edit history (1)

RE: Charlie Kirk

"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. And I always go back to, hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions. And I think that is the environment we are in. 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 are in."

Regardless, neither what he nor what Jimmy said is worthy of getting fired.

[erronis]

3. And your expanded quote is even more powerful and correct.

For them, truth is like a silver bullet to the heart. It is fatal.

[progressoid]

7. Yep.

He told the truth and that cannot stand.

[John Coktosten]

12. I don't see

....anything wrong with what Dowd said. Nothing inaccurate in that statement. Shame on MSNBC.

[lark]

26. Shame, shame, shame on MSNBC!

It was a horrid over-reaction.

[pacalo]

13. What Matthew and Jimmy both said are only offensive to hateful people.

Who's going to report the orange bully to the FCC for airing his offensive remarks on the airwaves and cybersphere?

[D00ver66]

18. That's exactly

What he said.

[3catwoman3]

2. He told the truth.

[intheflow]

4. Kick for this outstanding post!

[Cha]

5. 45K Likes.. So that's good. Mahalo, Matthew

Dowd

Pathetically, Must Not Get in the Way of the CK Martyrdom by Truth Telling.

Thank You... I wanted to hear from him post firing.

[red dog 1]

6. "The Matthew Dowd I Know"

“I lived in a fallout shelter with Matthew Dowd for a year-and-a-half.”

My thoughts on an old friend.

— (@stuartpstevens.bsky.social) 2025-09-19T19:38:18.795Z

[czarjak]

8. Dowd & W

Built this! Rove too.
Republicans! F-‘em.

[UTUSN]

9. He's got a legitimate beef about not getting much support.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

10. Big difference though...

…between government pressure, which is what Kimmel was up against, and an employer who didn’t like what you said.

[SunSeeker]

14. True. But did they fire Dowd because of pressure from the Trump administration? nt

[SickOfTheOnePct]

15. I've heard nothing about any pressure from Trump...

...regarding firing Dowd for his comments about Charlie Kirk.

That's why I don't see them as similar situations at all.

[SunSeeker]

16. Like Nexstar and Disney, MSNBC has an approval request pending before the FCC.

...
Reverberations over the firing continued Friday, with a memo sent to Comcast employees by Brian Roberts, CEO of the company that owns MSNBC; Comcast President Mike Cavanagh; and Mark Lazarus, CEO of Versant, the spinoff company that is to take over MSNBC ownership — if it receives Trump administration approval.
...
The dismissal and Trump’s previous criticisms of Comcast and MSNBC raise questions about whether he will take further actions to constrain TV networks he views as adversarial. In an August social media post, the president wrote that it was “so much fun to watch their weak and ineffective owner, ‘Concast,’ headed by dopey Brian Roberts, hopelessly and aimlessly flailing in the wind in an attempt to disassociate itself from the garbage that they created!”

https://wtop.com/entertainment/2025/09/dowd-says-msnbc-reacted-to-a-right-wing-mob-in-firing-him-for-charlie-kirk-commentary/

[SickOfTheOnePct]

17. Pretty sure that the Versant deal is done

That’s why they’ve already come up with the new name (MS NOW) and released who will stay with NBC and who will stay with MS NOW.

I can’t find anything that said any government approval was needed, which makes sense as this is a corporate restructuring rather than an acquisition.

But happy to be proven wrong if you have a link that actually discusses the need for pending government approval that might have influenced MSNBC’s decision to fire Dowd.

[SunSeeker]

19. No, Versant is not a done deal. NBC still lists Lazarus as Versant's "Prospective Chief Executive Officer."

https://www.nbcuniversal.com/leadership/mark-lazarus

And as I quoted the 9/12/25 WTOP news link in my above post, it describes Mark Lazarus as "CEO of Versant, the spinoff company that is to take over MSNBC ownership — if it receives Trump administration approval." https://wtop.com/entertainment/2025/09/dowd-says-msnbc-reacted-to-a-right-wing-mob-in-firing-him-for-charlie-kirk-commentary/

And it wasn't until just 2 days ago, on Thursday September 18, that they submitted paperwork and disclosures to the SEC to obtain approval to list Versant on the Nasdaq as "VSNT." https://www.cnbc.com/video/2025/09/18/comcast-spinoff-versant-media-to-trade-on-nasdaq-under-ticker-vsnt.html

So there are any number of ways the Trump administration could screw MSNBC/Versant.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

20. I read the WTOP article...

...but as I said, it's a comment with nothing to back it up.

Sure, the SEC could choose not to allow that name, but that's about it.

[SunSeeker]

22. It's not just a "comment." It's AP reporting. The WTOP article lists Associated Press as the source.

_______________________________________________________________


Other investor news outlets similarly note there is regulatory approvals yet to be completed for the spinoff: "The spin-off is expected to be completed during 2025, subject to the satisfaction of customary conditions." https://www.stocktitan.net/news/CMCSA/versant-board-of-directors-for-future-independent-media-company-ifftpz1ievfn.html

The unhinged and corrupt Trump FCC, and SEC, could do a lot more than just not let them use that "VSNT" ticker name. They can deny them the right to issue stock--or drag their feet approving it, even when approval is normally "customary." Counting certified ballots in Congress on January 6 is usually "customary" too, but no more!

The Trump administration has so thoroughly weaponized the US government that if you need anything from it, you are vulnerable to extortion unless you show your devotion to Dear Leader. And many businesses, big and small, are obeying in advance. Which is what I think MSNBC did here. You're welcome to think otherwise. I wish you were right.

[RVN VET71]

23. It was a pre-emptive strike

First, the full quote is completely exculpatory and, what's more, on the money. In a calmer time it might even be considered a bromide. No insult to the racist, sexist, fascist "christian" who was killed, none at all.

But MSNBC is a network whose executives are as cowed by our "president" as the rest, apparently.

The Hitleresque quality of the MAGA Fascist movement has reached the point where the craven among us -- at least in the governing seats of our media -- no longer have to be threatened individually. They work to avoid doing or saying anything that may result in Trump getting angry with them. The rule, evidently has gone from "Be careful what you say" to "Don't even think anything that would bring down the wrath of the mighty on your own head."

[RVN VET71]

25. The pressure is implied and the media are self-editing to avoid being singled out.

Trump doesn't have to directly say anything. The media know who he is and what he represents. Further, the media like their luxury cars and lifestyle and dread having it all taken away.

The old notion of "rugged individualism" that MAGA pretends to promote has actually been undermined by the MAGA Fascists. Only the brave resist -- and they will be destroyed. Only subservient tools will be left. American Corporate Leadership has become a den of craven cowards who would set up canteens in the death camps for the guards.

Yes, I have had it with the notion of "Corporate America". How much can I man change over time? I argued for Goldwater in '64. Voted (admittedly stupidly) for Nixin in '68 and for Raygun in '80 (a terrible, terrible mistake, and supported Bernie Sanders in '16 -- and still do, in spades, although he besmirched his halo by voting to kick Al Franken out of the Senate.

I now despise not just Trump, but every Republican, all of them, the whole fetid, rotten, unamerican lot of them, down to the dog-catcher in Mayberry (if there is such a place and such a person. An old man's curse on the treasonous lot of them. They all contributed to the crushing into fine powder what my generation used to consider the American Dream.

And Charlie Kirk, with his soul-shriveling hatred, was among the worst of them, among the very worst. I won't stoop to saying I'm glad he's dead, but neither will I lament his murder.

That's how much a man, an old man like me, can change if he opens his eyes, reads and watches and listens.

[2na fisherman]

11. Stochastic Terrorism by other terms

It's also known as "egging on" from the Norse word eggja, to provoke. Dowd gave another more colloquial definition. And it is what Trump did in his January 6 speech which "provoked" the attack on The Capitol.

[Walleye]

27. He didn't just provoke that attack. He organized it and called for it and set it up.

[vapor2]

21. They can't handle the truth!

[calimary]

35. Yep. As my mom would have said, "you ain't just a-woofin'.'"

[spanone]

24. Even M$NBC is afraid of trmp.

[Queso Delicioso]

29. Honestly I was done with them after they fired Joy Reid.

Corporate media is only ever concerned with money. Ethics and integrity, even if present in some form, always take a back seat to lining the bosses' pockets.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

28. Matt Dowd should have never been terminated by MSNBC

[sheshe2]

30. Kicking

[mucifer]

31. But, did his firing have ANYTHING to do with the federal government pushing him out? That's the

first amendment difference.

It sucks to get fired for telling the truth. But, MSNBC has the right to do that.

Government pressure causing the firing is different.

[lapucelle]

32. Dowd's point still stands.

No one said that MSNBC did not have the right to fire Dowd, but any performative outrage and virtue signalling by MSNBC on air personalities over Jimmy Kimmel's firing certainly rings hollow.

[lapucelle]

34. Welcome to DU! Enjoy your donut.

[lapucelle]

37. Please sea below for further information.

[Abolishinist]

38. Just a donut? That's all?

Sounds cheap of you, especially considering there's a Pizza Hut right next door to Dunkin.

[lapucelle]

39. Touche!