Former Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz doubled down on her shocking comments on Thursday show up to celebrate the allegedly targeted killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
A horrifying video Released Wednesday showed Thompson was shot and killed at close range while outside the Hilton Hotel in downtown Manhattan, New York. The suspect is still on the run.
Hours after news of his death broke, Lorenz wrote on the social media site Bluesky, “And people are wondering why we want these executives dead,” alongside a report that Blue Cross Blue Shield will no longer cover anesthesia for the entire duration of some operations.
Lorenz then shared images of Kim Keck, CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield, and reposted calls to target other health insurer executives.
WHO WAS BRIAN THOMPSON, CEO of UNITEDHEALTHCARE?
Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was shot and killed in downtown Manhattan on Wednesday morning. (Photo Credit: Businesswire | NYPD Crimestoppers)
After facing backlash for her post about dead executives, Lorenz defended herself in comments Fox News digitaland placed in a long screed on her Substack the next day.
In a message Titled “Why ‘We’ Want Insurance Executives Dead,” Lorenz denied calling for the murder of more top executives before appearing to justify her harsh comments the day before.
“Let me be very clear: my post uses a collective ‘we’ and explains public sentiment. It is not me personally saying, ‘I want these executives dead and so we should kill them,'” Lorenz said. “I explain that thousands of Americans (myself included) are fed up with our barbaric healthcare system and the people at the top who rake in millions while inflicting pain, suffering and death on millions of innocent people.”
She continued: ‘If you have seen a loved one die because an insurance conglomerate denied their life-saving treatment as a cost-saving measure, then it is natural to wish that the people running such conglomerates would suffer the same fate.’
The post also included the meme of a festive image of a smiling star and balloons that read “CEO DOWN.”
Taylor Lorenz doubled down on her harsh comments, wishing health insurance executives would face retaliation for denying medical claims. (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival)
“People have a very justified hatred of insurance company CEOs because these executives are responsible for an unfathomable amount of death and suffering. I think it is good to expose this broken system and the people in power who make it possible. Again, they can’t be like that. murdered, but so we can change the system and hold people in power accountable for their actions,” her post continued.
Lorenz argued that while some online comments have gone too far and promoted violence, the media has failed to investigate “the systemic cruelty of our health care system” that motivated these sentiments.
She continued to retweet social media posts Thursday comparing Thompson to a mass murderer.
Taylor Lorenz was criticized because her social media posts seemed to justify comments wishing insurance executives would suffer. (Getty Images)
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“Brian Thompson killed more American citizens than all serial killers combined, but because he made money from it, the media considered him a successful businessman and a morally upright citizen,” one report said.
Lorenz left the Washington Post in October and launched its User Magazine Substack. The far-left writer has also worked at the New York Times in the past and has been embroiled in several online controversies over the years.
Known for her extreme fears about COVID-19, she went viral earlier this week when she worried that people not wearing masks in 2024 were “chasing the sky.”
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Lindsay Kornick and Joseph Wulfsohn of Fox News contributed to this report.
