Fox News host Greg Gutfeld couldn’t resist taking a swing at his colleague Howard Kurtz on Sunday — all because Kurtz told an uncomfortable truth about right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk.
Gutfeld’s jab came directly in response to a viral clip from Kurtz’s final broadcast, where the media analyst addressed rising political violence and took a moment to put the right’s sanctification of Kirk under the microscope.
“Political violence is not unique to the left or the right,” Kurtz said. “And I know some people will be upset with this, but Charlie Kirk was not a saint.”
That line alone was enough to light up right-wing social media. Some praised Kurtz for his honesty; others accused him of turning on his own.
Gutfeld fired off a dismissive post on X: “Maybe we can tune in next week for a clarification…oh wait…” Gutfeld wrote, mocking Kurtz just as he wrapped up more than a decade hosting the network’s “MediaBuzz” show.
Fox News announced earlier this week that MediaBuzz was being replaced by a new program hosted by White House correspondents Peter Doocy and Jacqui Heinrich. Kurtz isn’t out at Fox entirely — he’ll stay on as a political and media analyst and continue hosting the MediaBuzz podcast — but Gutfeld’s post made clear where he stands.
The snide remark wasn’t subtle. Gutfeld was essentially clowning a veteran journalist for saying what many already know: that Kirk — a highly polarizing figure on the right — has a complex record and is not above criticism. But nuance like that doesn’t seem welcome in some Fox News circles.
Kurtz, for his part, used his sign-off to reflect on years of getting flak from both sides. “I’ve enjoyed the challenge of being criticized for being too pro-Trump and anti-Trump — often for the same comments,” he said.
In recent months, Kurtz has increasingly stepped out of the conservative echo chamber. He called Trump’s Putin summit ineffective, and questioned whether Trump’s lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal was backfiring by spotlighting a report about a “bawdy” letter to Jeffrey Epstein. That streak of honesty seems to have earned him more internal pushback than praise.
The timing of MediaBuzz’s cancellation — and Gutfeld’s jab — raises a clear question: was Kurtz simply moved aside in a routine reshuffling, or was he sidelined for refusing to toe the party line?
