By Rhian Lubin

Copyright independent

An ABC News reporter is under fire for describing the alleged text messages Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer sent his roommate as “touching.”

The network’s chief national correspondent, Matt Gutman, has received a wave of backlash for on-air comments he made Tuesday immediately after a press conference, where Utah prosecutors revealed alleged texts Tyler Robinson, 22, sent his roommate following the shooting one week ago.

Robinson was formally charged with aggravated murder and six other charges as prosecutors said they intend to seek the death penalty.

Reacting to the dramatic press conference live on ABC News Tuesday, Gutman said he was trying to explain the “jarring contrast” between the horrific killing and the manner in which Robinson allegedly spoke to his roommate, who prosecutors said was also in a romantic relationship with the suspect.

“I don’t know if 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. But also it was very touching in a way that I think many of us didn’t expect,” Gutman said.

He described the messages as “a very intimate portrait into this relationship,” noting how Robinson referred to his roommate as “my love” and wanted to “protect” his partner, according to the court documents released Tuesday.

“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 on the other hand he was, you know, speaking so lovingly about his partner,” Gutman said.

The reporter then set out the brutality of Kirk’s murder at the Utah Valley University campus in Orem, but again returned to the “touching” alleged text messages.

“And then those text messages, and 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, so allegedly self-incriminating, and yet, on the other hand, so touching, right?”

Gutman’s remarks drew widespread condemnation and shock.

“Wait, what???” GOP Sen. Jim Banks of Indiana reacted on X.

“Legacy media in all its glory…” remarked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Former Fox News producer Kyle Becker, who now runs his own right-wing media site, said Gutman’s comments were “gross.”

“ABC demonizes Charlie, humanizes an accused murderer,” Becker wrote on X.

Libs of TikTok influencer Chaya Raichik, whose X account has 4.4 million followers, blasted the comments as “sick.”

Following the backlash, Gutman posted an apology on his X account Wednesday morning.

“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,” Gutman explained.

“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.”

The Independent has contacted ABC News for further comment.

Gutman was suspended by the network in 2020 for “inaccurate” comments he made on-air following the death of Kobe Bryant, who died in a tragic helicopter crash.

Elsewhere on the network, Beni Rae Harmony, a news anchor on a local ABC-affiliated station WICS-ABC20 Springfield in Illinois, announced her resignation after she was suspended for a “non-partisan tribute” to Kirk.

Harmony claimed she was “targeted” for a teary-eyed on-air tribute to Kirk.

“Many in the mainstream media have been fired or punished for mocking his assassination. I believe I am the first to be targeted for honoring him on air,” Harmony wrote Monday on X.