NBC was forced to defend Charlie Kirk's "appalling movement" because it lost its integrity, according to an independent political strategist who worked on former President George W. Bush's campaign.
Political strategist Steve Schmidt, who has criticized Trump in the past, pointed to a letter that Comcast and NBC released to their employees. The letter, which was publicized over the weekend, said in part, "The tragic loss of Charlie Kirk, a 31-year-old father, husband, and advocate for open debate, whose faith was important to him, reminds us of the fragility of life and the urgent need for unity in our nation."
The letter also justified the firing of an analyst who pointed out that Kirk lived his life spreading division, and noted that he died in a similar manner.
"You may have seen that MSNBC recently ended its association with a contributor who made an unacceptable and insensitive comment about this horrific event. That coverage was at odds with fostering civil dialogue and being willing to listen to the points of view of those who have differing opinions. We should be able to disagree, robustly and passionately, but, ultimately, with respect. We need to do better," it states.
But according to Schmidt, this letter shows how far NBC has truly fallen.
"This is a story of a letter written by a peacock, who was once proud. It is now abused by the owners of a new zoo that have drooped its tail and dulled its plume. Known once for integrity, the bird is now riddled with a necrotizing cancer, which has sentenced it to a slow, miserable, degrading and public decomposition in front of the glazed eyes of the last customers who stare at the peacock, and wonder why," he wrote. "How did the peacock lose its feathers and write this letter, which would have made all of the other peacocks that came before so very, very sad?"
Schmidt also attempted to explain the origin of the letter:
"Once upon a time, I was the vice chairman of the world’s largest public relations firm, and I know a thing or two about how letters like the one this story is about come to life. Emails were firing back and forth between Comcast/NBCUniversal/MSNBC executives and their PR teams about the raging extremist reaction to the murder of a racial supremacist and demagogue, who debased the public discourse with conspiracies, bigotry and sophistry at the expense of debate, discourse and reason," he wrote. "The emails would undoubtedly have shown panic and incoherence by the leadership of Comcast, a $123 billion company. There were no adults in the room to comprehend the moment and understand what was happening. The moral failure at Comcast was absolute, and it was profound."
According to Schmidt, the letter ignores that Kirk had "served an appalling political movement, and was an apologist for political violence."
"He was a denier about the outcomes of legitimate elections, which lit the fuse for the violence that has metastasized and grown ever since political extremists tried to overthrow the 2020 election during a violent coup. It is not only now denied, but celebrated by the pardoned criminals Trump incited to attack the Capitol," he then added.