(NewsNation) — Mere minutes after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed, social media sites were swamped with celebratory posts and praise for the suspect, Luigi Mangione.
Taylor Lorenz, a tech and culture journalist who founded User Mag, penned an op-ed on the platform titled: “Why ‘we’ want insurance executives dead.”
Lorenz tells “Elizabeth Vargas Now” that Piers Morgan interrupted her on the issue in a subsequent interview about the piece, posting misrepresentative clips that frame Lorenz as feeling “joy” in Thompson’s death.
“I felt joy that people, myself and … millions of other Americans feel joy that this issue is finally receiving attention,” Lorenz clarified Friday. “That is what I said. So, just to be clear, absolutely in zero context that I say I felt joy that a man’s life was lost. I am against death in all forms.”
She added that while she is against killing, it is only natural for someone who watched their loved one be denied care and suffer in return, to “wish the same fate” on those in charge.
Lorenz’s article dives into the hatred some Americans hold for health care CEOs, as their companies’ decisions to deny claims leave many families grieving.
“I do believe that insurance companies denying life-saving care is murder. Again, that does not justify killing in response,” she said. “However, I do think that we need to acknowledge the violent nature of our for-profit insurance company or system, rather.”
It’s a system that is enabled by members of Congress, NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas posited.
“Meaningful change does not happen through shooting someone, because, again, somebody will just take that person’s place. We need to fix these systems,” Lorenz responded. “And Congress, you’re right, Congress and the lawmakers and the people in power are the ultimate villains here.”
Lorenz pointed to Morgan’s handling of their chat as an example of media manufacturing outage, which she called a “shame.”
“I think the media’s obsession with this sort of clickbait, outrage stuff is is ultimately quite dangerous, because people feel that the media is not listening to them,” Lorenz said. “And it is crucial right now that people feel listened to.”
Because, she tells NewsNation, when people aren’t listened to — when protest within a system feels useless — “they start to operate outside of it.”
“And that’s what you saw Luigi [Mangione] do.”
The journalist urged media and lawmakers to hear what the American people are saying, rather than scolding them, on the journey to reform our nation’s “barbaric system” of health care.
