(Julianna Frieman, Headline USA) Former Washington Post journalist Taylor Lorenz put the CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield on blast after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot dead Wednesday in Midtown Manhattan.
Lorenz published the name and photograph of Blue Cross Blue Shield CEO Kim A. Keck in response to an X post from popular culture account Pop Crave, which announced that the insurance company would no longer cover anesthesia for surgeries running overtime in Connecticut, New York and Missouri.
Her post came hours after a masked shooter assassinated the UnitedHealthcare CEO after he exited the Hilton hotel around 6:46 a.m.
“I hope people learn the names of all of these insurance company CEOs and engage in very peaceful letter writing campaigns so that they stop ruthlessly murdering thousands of innocent Americans by denying coverage. Healthcare is a human right. We need universal healthcare now,” Lorenz wrote below her perceived dog whistle post to go after the Blue Cross Blue Shield CEO.
I hope people learn the names of all of these insurance company CEOs and engage in very peaceful letter writing campaigns so that they stop ruthlessly murdering thousands of innocent Americans by denying coverage. Healthcare is a human right. We need universal healthcare now.
— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) December 5, 2024
On her Bluesky Social account, Lorenz was more direct and wrote, “And people wonder why we want these executives dead.”
my entire feed is celebrating. someone said it's the most united we've been since kissinger. https://t.co/QmYG1pF7OS
— lex (@lexbyanyname) December 5, 2024
Popular X user Libs of TikTok, who was doxxed by Lorenz in 2022, called out the former Washington Post journalist’s “completely unhinged” threat against the Blue Cross Blue Shield CEO.
Is this not a direct threat against the CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield? This is completely unhinged pic.twitter.com/yF4XmlgFOQ
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 5, 2024
Following Thompson’s murder, Lorenz reposted various anecdotes from X users who said they were denied coverage from UnitedHealthcare.
Today I’m thinking about the time United Healthcare suddenly decided to stop paying for my chemotherapy and didn’t bother telling me, so the nurses had to tell me when I checked in at the cancer center for my next treatment.
Totally unrelated to any current news, of course.
— Kendall Brown (@kendallybrown) December 4, 2024
When news finally broke about the DOJ investigation, the company lost almost $25 billion in value. But CEO Brian Thompson had already cashed outhttps://t.co/jKDNY4ob3Q
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) December 5, 2024
Remembering the day United Healthcare denied a one-night hospital stay for my 12yo child as “medically unnecessary” following ASD heart repair surgery.
— Natalie Holme Elsberg 🇿🇦 (@NatalieElsberg) December 4, 2024
She suggested her “entire feed” on the social media platform consisted of people rejoicing after the insurance company CEO was killed, posting a before-and-after meme of smiling people.
This is my entire feed https://t.co/vPC80ikqE7
— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) December 5, 2024
“It’s so interesting and telling what ‘journalists’ covering this story consider violence and what they don’t,” Lorenz wrote Thursday morning on X.
It’s so interesting and telling what “journalists” covering this story consider violence and what they don’t https://t.co/S2g1YjDZ7A
— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) December 5, 2024
Conservative social media users called out Lorenz for her perceived threat against Keeks and other healthcare CEOs, including podcaster Tim Pool.
“Holy f**k,” Pool wrote. “Taylor Lorenz straight up saying she wants Healthcare CEOs dead.”
Holy fuck
Taylor Lorenz straight up saying she wants Healthcare CEOs dead https://t.co/ZuQqxdTblF
— Tim Pool (@Timcast) December 4, 2024
Journalist Claire Lehmann said she had no idea Lorenz “was this crazy.”
I had no idea she was this crazy. pic.twitter.com/AjeNU6HUAt
— Claire Lehmann (@clairlemon) December 5, 2024
“I got banned from BlueSky for declaring that there are only two genders. Taylor Lorenz is inciting acts of terrorism and it’s okay because she is on the right team,” The Dossier publisher Jordan Schachtel wrote.
I got banned from BlueSky for declaring that there are only two genders.
Taylor Lorenz is inciting acts of terrorism and it’s okay because she is on the right team. pic.twitter.com/IrXejxUIS8
— Jordan Schachtel @ dossier.today (@JordanSchachtel) December 5, 2024
Political commentator Glenn Beck slammed Lorenz for characterizing the insurance company CEO’s murder as a form of “justice.”
The gunning down of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson wasn’t “justice”, as some like @TaylorLorenz have suggested. It was VENGEANCE masquerading as righteousness. That is incredibly DANGEROUS. History has already shown us where this kind of street vengeance takes us. The…
— Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) December 5, 2024
“The gunning down of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson wasn’t ‘justice’, as some like @TaylorLorenz have suggested,” Beck wrote. “It was VENGEANCE masquerading as righteousness. That is incredibly DANGEROUS.”
Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer published by the Daily Caller, Headline USA, The Federalist, and The American Spectator. Follow her on Twitter at @JuliannaFrieman.
