There are more questions than answers in the aftermath of the shocking execution of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a New York City sidewalk around 6:45am on Wednesday.
The suspect remains at large and the motive is unknown, but the reaction to the murder on social media has been shocking in its own way. Former New York Times and Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz is under fire for posts in which she suggested other insurance executives should face a similar fate, and she wasn’t alone.
On Friday’s show, Megyn was joined by The Daily Mail’s Maureen Callahan to discuss the brazen killing and what the sick reaction to it says about society today.
The Murder
A manhunt is underway for the gunman who murdered Thompson as he walked from his midtown hotel to the company’s annual investor conference. He escaped the scene on an e-bike and was last seen riding through Central Park.
The suspect is believed to have been staying at an Upper West Side hostel after traveling to New York by bus from Atlanta. The motive remains unclear, but police believe it was a targeted ambush and the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” were reportedly scrawled on the bullets. It appears as though the assassin had firearms training due to his ability to clear a gun jam.
Thompson, a father of two who lived in a suburb of Minneapolis, worked for the Minnesota-based insurer since 2004 and had been CEO for more than three years. There have been protests at the company’s headquarters during his tenure due to changes in coverage, and he has been named in lawsuits against the insurance behemoth. His wife, whom he did not live with, said he had received threats in recent months, though he was not traveling with security.
The Chilling Reaction
Hours after the killing, Lorenz took to the new X alternative BlueSky to share an article about how insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield was considering no longer covering anesthesia costs for the entirety of some procedures (the company has subsequently reversed course on the policy) with the caption, “And people wonder why we want these executives dead.”
She doubled down on that sentiment in another post. “People have very justified hatred toward insurance company CEOs because these executives are responsible for an unfathomable amount of death and suffering,” she wrote. “As someone against death and suffering, I think it’s good to call out this broken system and the ppl in power who enable it.”
The tech reporter later tried to downplay her comments, claiming she only meant to encourage “peaceful letter-writing campaigns” to executives so insurance companies “stop ruthlessly murdering thousands of innocent Americans by denying coverage.”
But Lorenz was not alone in her reaction. There were scores of other posts expressing a similar sentiment across social media, and the internet pounced on a Facebook post from UnitedHealthcare mourning the loss of its leader. The post received 35,000 “haha” reactions compared to just 2,200 “sad” reactions before being taken down.
‘The Lack of Humanity’
Megyn said both the assassination and reaction reveal something about the state of the country today. “The killing of CEO Brian Thompson is deeply disturbing,” she said. “It says a lot about who we are, where we are, and I wonder if it says something about New York because it is starting to feel like the wild west out there.”
In Callahan’s view, the callous response to Thompson’s death is but the latest example of why “social media is a cesspool.” She noted people have been calling the suspect “the hot assassin” while defending his actions.
But she believes at least some of the commentary is rooted in people’s real experiences. “I think the reaction to this is really telling us a lot… People are sick of their life and death decisions being made by faceless bureaucrats or paper pushers in offices. You try to get somebody on the line at one of these companies, forget it. You can’t,” she explained. “So, unless you’re a one-percenter who is up in the Beyoncé suite, you are at the mercy of some guy who is going to tell you it costs them 10 cents less for you to travel two hours more to go see a doctor you don’t even like to get denied medication you might really need. This is sort of the larger thing that is happening.”
While Megyn acknowledged that people are rightly frustrated and policies like the one Lorenz posted about from Blue Cross Blue Shield deserve debate, she said there is a time and a place. “She makes it so that I can’t really discuss her Blue Cross Blue Shield argument… I just really want to run from this disgusting person with no empathy for a dead man’s grieving children,” she concluded. “The lack of humanity is what is striking.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Callahan by tuning in to episode 959 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.