When did Matt Gutman join ABC News? Career highlights explored as reporter faces backlash for comments on Charlie Kirk assassination case

Matt Gutman, a New Jersey-born author and reporter, moved to Miami 17 years ago to join ABC News. Prior to that, he was in Tel Aviv, working for the Jerusalem Post, reporting on the Palestinian uprising. After joining ABC News in 2008, the 47-year-old reporter has appeared regularly on segments such as Nightline, ABC World News Tonight, Good Morning America, and the magazine show called 20/20.

During his time at ABC News, Matt Gutman has filed reports from more than 50 countries since 2010. For a short period of time, he also briefly hosted Sea Rescue, anchoring over 120 episodes. Lastly, in 2016, he was detained in Venezuela by its police and intelligence services for five days. He was there to report on the collapsing healthcare system.

After a decade of working with the news channel, Matt was named ABC News' Chief National Correspondent in 2018. However, recently, the well-known news reporter has faced backlash for some of his comments while reporting on Charlie Kirk's assassination. Keep reading to learn more.

What controversial thing did Matt Gutman say while reporting on Charlie Kirk's assassination story?

After Charlie Kirk's suspected shooter was identified and arrested, there have been more developments in the story. The identified individual is 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, who revealed what he had done in a Discord chat, moments before he was arrested.

Matt Gutman was reporting the story regarding the text messages between Robinson and his transgender partner. The messages served as a confession to the assassination of Charlie Kirk. However, the ABC News correspondent called the exchange "fulsome," "intimate," and "very touching".

In Gutman's words:

"But, also, it was very touching in a way that 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.'"

Matt Gutman continued to say:

"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."

"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 asked.

Matt Gutman also focused on the terms of endearment used by Robinson, saying:

"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 backlash against Matt Gutman's interpretation of the messages between Robinson and his partner, Lance Twiggs, was immediate. Numerous people took to social media to question what they just heard on ABC News.

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