Matt Gutman: ABC News Reporter Faces Social Media Backlash for Calling Texts Tyler Robinson and His Trans Lover ‘Very Touching’

An ABC News reporter is facing backlash for his bizarre, overly sympathetic take on the text exchanges between alleged Charlie Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson and his transgender partner, Lance Twiggs, 22, which were made public on Tuesday. The suspect was slapped with seven charges on Tuesday, including aggravated murder.

Reporter Matt Gutman reported from Charlie Kirk’s assassination press conference in Utah on Tuesday that the suspected killer’s shocking text messages were “intimate,” “fulsome,” and “very touching,” drawing criticism for the way he framed them. In the disturbing text exchange, Robinson allegedly admitted to killing the 31-year-old conservative commentator, saying he did it because he had “had enough of his hatred.”

Insensitive Words

Utah County Attorney Jeffrey S. Gray read aloud the texts at the press conference, which gave a chilling look into the alleged plan behind Kirk’s brutal killing. But Gutman chose to interpret them in a very different way.

“We have seen an alleged murder with such specific text messages about the alleged murder weapon, where it was hidden, how it was placed, what was on it,” Guttman began.

“But, also, it was very touching in a way that many of us didn’t expect,” Gutman continued without coercion of the texts which Robinson had sent just hours after Kirk was killed on Sept. 10.

“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,” he said as he got emotionally moved.

“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, riveting press conference,” Gutman concluded in his eyebrow-raising commentary.

Doubling Down on His Remarks

Later, on an ABC livestream after his first remarks, Gutman stuck with the same controversial angle, which came across as almost praising Kirk’s alleged killer. “I don’t think I 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 grasped.

“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 heartbreaking duality that we’re seeing very tragically playing out.”

The ABC reporter was quickly met with widespread criticism online, as many were shocked not only by what he said but also by the sympathetic tone he used.

Reactions poured in online. “Wtaf,” wrote Post columnist Karol Markowicz on X.

“Legacy media in all its glory,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis posted on the platform formerly known as Twitter.

“Wait, what???” Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., said from his personal account.

Fox News host Will Cain added on Twitter, “Fundamentally, irredeemably, broken.”

Countless users on X demanded that ABC News fire Gutman over his controversial on-air remarks, with several posts calling for his removal racking up thousands of likes.