(The Hill) — Matthew Dowd, a political operative and contributor to MSNBC, has been fired by the network over comments he made on the air Wednesday just minutes after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

"We don't know any of the details of this, we don't know if this was a supporter shooting their gun off in celebration," Dowd said while appearing on the network, calling Kirk "one of the more divisive figures in this."

"He was constantly pushing this sort of hate speech aimed at certain groups," Dowd continued. "And I always go back to hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions ... You can't say these awful words and not expect awful actions to take place."

Dowd's comments were met with swift pushback and prompted MSNBC President Rebe

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