ABC’s Matt Gutman Calls Texts Between Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin And Trans Lover ‘Touching’

ABC News correspondent Matt Gutman described newly released text messages between Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin and his transgender partner as "touching."

"But, also, it was very touching in a way that many of us didn't expect," Gutman said on air Tuesday. "A very intimate portrait into this relationship between the suspect’s roommate and the suspect himself, with him repeatedly calling his roommate, who is transitioning, ‘my love.’ And ‘I want to protect you, my love.’"

For background, prosecutors released text messages between Tyler Robinson and his partner, Lance Twiggs, in which Robinson admits to killing Kirk over his beliefs.

According to prosecutors, Robinson texted Twiggs to "look under [his] keyboard for a note." Twiggs found a message stating, "I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and I’m going to take it." 

Robinson later confirmed via text that he was the shooter: "I had enough of [Kirk’s] hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out."

Read the full exchange below:

Those are the very texts Gutman found "touching." And if you think he misspoke, he didn’t. Ten minutes later, he doubled down:

"I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a press conference in which we’ve read text messages that are A, so fulsome, so robust, so apparently allegedly self-incriminating and yet, on the other hand, so touching, right?" Gutman said.

OutKick called ABC News for comment but received no response. Fox News Digital also did not immediately hear back.

Gutman’s remarks are grotesque. Imagine being "touched" by someone confessing to political assassination. Imagine admitting that on television, as a journalist.

No normal person would react this way. What’s "touching" isn’t a murderer’s self-justification—it’s Erika Kirk’s heartbreaking tribute to her husband, a 31-year-old husband and father of two.

As OutKick has argued, accountability and cancel culture are not the same. Cancel culture is losing your job for holding the wrong opinion. Accountability is facing consequences for openly sympathizing with a confessed killer.

Gutman’s comments aren’t much better than former MSNBC analyst Matthew Dowd suggesting Kirk’s "awful words" brought about his own death.

Matt Gutman is a ghoul. And ABC News should hold him accountable for his comments.