Ex-WaPo Reporter Doubles Down on Post Wanting Health Insurance CEOs Dead: ‘It’s Natural to Wish’

Former Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz on Thursday doubled down on his shocking comments that appear to celebrate the reportedly targeted killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

A harrowing video released Wednesday showed Thompson being shot and killed at close range while outside the Hilton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, New York. The suspect is still at large.

Hours after the news of his death, Lorenz wrote on social media Bluesky: “And people are wondering why we want these leaders dead,” along with a report about Blue Cross Blue Shield no longer covering full-length anesthesia of some operations.

Lorenz went on to share photos of Blue Cross Blue Shield CEO Kim Keck and retweeted calls for other health insurance executives to be targeted.

WHO WAS BRIAN THOMPSON, UNITEDHEALTHCARE CEO?

UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed in Midtown Manhattan Wednesday morning. (Photo credit: Businesswire | NYPD Crimestoppers)

After facing backlash for her post about dead executives, Lorenz defended herself in comments to Fox News Digital, and then in a lengthy rebuttal posted to her Substack the next day.

In a post titled “Why ‘We’ Want Insurance Executives Dead,” Lorenz denied calling for the killing of several top executives before appearing to justify her harsh comments from the day before.

“Let me be super clear: my post uses a collective ‘we’ and explains public sentiment. It’s not me personally saying ‘I want these leaders dead and therefore we should kill them,'” Lorenz said. “I explain that thousands of Americans (myself included) are fed up with our barbaric health care 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’ve seen a loved one die because an insurance conglomerate has denied them life-saving treatment as a cost-cutting measure, well, it’s natural to want the people who run such conglomerates to suffer the same fate.”

The post also featured the meme of a celebratory image of a smiling star and balloons with the text “CEO DOWN”.

Taylor Lorenz doubled down on her tough comments where she wanted health insurance executives to be punished for denying medical claims. (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival)

WASHINGTON POST’S TAYLOR LORENZ SAYS BITE ‘WAR CRIMINAL’ POST WAS ‘OBVIOUS MEME’ AFTER HAD IT WAS EDITED

“People have a very justified hatred of insurance company CEOs because these executives are responsible for an unimaginable amount of death and suffering. I think it’s good to call out this broken system and the people in power who enable it. Again, not so they can be murdered, but so we can change the system and start holding people in power accountable for their actions,” her post read.

Lorenz argued that while some online comments have gone too far and promoted violence, the media had failed to examine “the systemic cruelty of our health care system” that motivated those sentiments.

She continued to retweet posts on social media comparing Thompson to a mass murderer on Thursday.

Taylor Lorenz faced criticism over her social media posts that appear to justify comments wishing insurance executives would suffer. (Getty Images)

CLICK HERE FOR MORE MEDIA AND CULTURE COVERAGE

“Brian Thompson killed more American citizens than every serial killer combined, but because he made money from it, the media viewed him as a successful businessman and morally upstanding citizen,” one post read.

Lorenz left The Washington Post in October and launched her User Magazine Substack. The far-left writer also had a previous stint at the New York Times and has been embroiled in numerous online controversies over the years.

Known for his extreme fear of COVID-19, she went viral earlier this week when she worried that people not wearing masks in 2024 were “rawdogging the air.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP