Editor's note: This story was updated on Wednesday, Sept. 17, with Jim Pavia's response.
Compliance firm MarketCounsel Consulting is speaking out about a screenshot shared by a pro-Trump activist purporting to show remarks by former CNBC and InvestmentNews editor Jim Pavia reacting to the assassination Wednesday of Charlie Kirk by saying “now, on to the orange stain!” — a comment interpreted as a threat against President Donald Trump.
In a LinkedIn post Tuesday, Pavia said his comments had been taken out of context and that he did not wish harm on Trump.
Ryan Fournier, who identifies himself as a leader of Students for Trump and has 1.2 million followers, posted Thursday on X:
Meet Jim Pavia, managing director at @MarketCounsel. On Facebook, @JimPavia mocked Charlie Kirk’s assassination—writing he “wonder[s] how… Charlie Kirk feels about guns now.”
When told Kirk was dead, Pavia replied: “now, on to the orange stain!” — a clear call for President Trump’s assassination.
This is who @CNBC had as a senior editor and who MarketCounsel Consulting just hired as their new managing director of communications.
The X post tagged the Secret Service, the FBI and the agencies' directors. Fournier posted a nearly identical message on Facebook.
On Friday afternoon, no such post was publicly visible on Pavia’s Facebook page.
MarketCounsel — which discussed hiring Pavia to work at the firm in the spring but says it never formally did — has been targeted since late Thursday as a result of the social media posts, with calls from Fournier and others Friday to reach out directly to MarketCounsel's client list.
"For more than 25 years, MarketCounsel has built community and fueled the entrepreneurial dreams of financial advisors,” the compliance firm said in a statement. “We condemn all forms of political violence. We are aware of social media posts authored by Jim Pavia, an industry journalist who has never been employed by or affiliated with MarketCounsel. His posts do not reflect the views or values of our company or its employees."
Pavia Responds
On LinkedIn, Pavia said the message asking “how Charlie Kirk feels about guns now?” was written before he knew Kirk had died.
“In that heated chat, I explained that my remark was about irony, not humor and certainly not celebration,” Pavia said.
Pavia said he regretted the Trump comment.
“It was ill-considered and does not reflect the standard I hold myself to,” Pavia wrote. “While I firmly believe history will judge his presidency critically, I want to be absolutely clear: I have never wished him harm, nor do I celebrate violence against anyone.”
Further, “It is false to say that I ‘never worked a day at MarketCounsel,’” he wrote. “After 2–3 weeks of employment with MarketCounsel, both MarketCounsel and I agreed it was just not the right fit. I received a single paycheck from the firm on June 27. Today, I am officially retired from journalism.”
Asked for comment, MarketCounsel maintained its position that Pavia was considered for a role at the company but never formally worked as an employee.
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