This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
An ABC News reporter on Wednesday expressed "deep regret" for the way he portrayed "very touching" and "intimate" text messages between Charlie Kirk's alleged assassin Tyler Robinson and his transgender lover Lance Twiggs, but the journalist is still being shredded by media colleagues and Americans at large.
On Tuesday, ABC's Matt Gutman reported he was not sure "if we have seen an alleged murder with such specific text messages" that were "very touching, in a way, that I think many of us didn't expect – 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, calling him 'my love.' And 'I want to protect you, my love.'"
"So, it was this duality of someone who the attorney said not only jeopardized the life of Charlie Kirk and the crowd, but was doing it in front of children, which is one of the aggravating circumstances of this case. And then, on the other hand, he was, you know, speaking so lovingly about his partner. So a very interesting and, as Pierre said, riveting press conference."
Curtis Houck, managing editor of NewsBusters, noted Gutman "doubled down" ten minutes later after after his initial report on ABC News Live, as Gutman said: "It's heartbreaking on so many levels, Kyra. Obviously, Charlie Kirk was murdered brutally in front of a crowd of thousands … [O]n the other hand, there is this duality of a very a portrait of a very human person, a very human experience from this entire family … the kid who had got a 34 out of 36 on the ACT, who had a 4.0 …
"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 – with the suspect reaching out to his roommate, who was allegedly his boyfriend, who we understand, you know, identified as male at birth, now identifies as female.
"And the terminology he used, he was trying to protect him. He kept calling him 'my love.' 'My reason for doing this is to protect you,' you know, but also asking him to delete the messages and not speak to law enforcement. So there's this, this heartbreaking duality that we're seeing very tragically playing out here."
Wednesday morning, Gutman expressed regret on X, stating: "Yesterday I tried to underscore the jarring contrast between this cold blooded assassination of Charlie Kirk – a man who dedicated his life to public dialogue – and the personal, disturbing texts read aloud by the Utah County Attorney at the press conference.
"I deeply regret that my words did not make that clear. But let there be zero doubt here: I unequivocally condemn this horrific crime and the pain it caused Charlie Kirk's family, those who were forced to witness it at UVU, and the millions of people he inspired."
Charlie Hurt of Fox News was not buying Gutman's comments Wednesday, explaining on the air: "When you're covering a very serious event like a murder trial or a hearing for a murder trial of an assassination, you go with a certain mindset. And the mindset is one that is very serious, it's very factual based, and you are aware of the human casualty that is going on here and you are respectful of what you're covering.
"And the idea that this guy is going to walk into cover this story and have sort of these fantasies, these fairy-tale fantasies, play out in his mind, I think goes to the heart of the lack of seriousness, the lack of gravity that these people approach a story like this. It boggles my mind. I don't understand it."
Hurt concluded: "I don't know how you get from the point from where you should be to where this guy ended up. It is appalling, it's disgusting. I guess the only maybe saving grace to it all is that I think that the media has so befouled themselves, they've so lost all credibility that I think a lot of people just sort of may have heard that and … shrugged and thought: 'Well, good thing I don't listen to them anymore.'"
Other comments from X users directly responding to Gutman's expression of regret include:
"'Touching' was the word you used to describe the messages of someone that just assassinated a father. You're also a father of 2 children, Libby & Ben. Your children aren't safe with someone who thinks a public assassination is 'touching.' You should be fired."
"Matt, you attempted to write a love story for a murderous monster in order to appease your left-leaning brain. There's nothing 'touching' about any of it. If you can't see how disgusting that was, then you really need to reevaluate your life."
"You twisted the assassination of Charlie Kirk into a gay man 'defending' his gay lover. You made it seem like a bitter love story you freak. You're not going to worm out of this."
