Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy slammed the “health care industry that mostly doesn’t give a s–t” about ailing patients and urged fellow lawmakers to heed the “visceral anger” of Americans after the slaying of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
“I’m never going to condone violence. I don’t here,” Murphy (D-Conn.) began in a video posted to X on Sunday, before adding: “What I see happening in this country though, is a real visceral anger, that the outrage of Brian Thompson’s death, or the outrage of the death of any powerful person, isn’t matched by the anger over the anger of the thousands of people who die often anonymous deaths every single day at the hands of a health care industry that mostly doesn’t give a s–t.”
“People in America today feel ignored, they feel scared, they feel alone that intentionally grinds them down. A system where profit matters more than life,” he said. “My colleagues need to listen and we need to do something about it.”
Political flacks and pundits immediately piled on Murphy for what they saw as a grotesque response to the violence, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ press secretary Jeremy Redfern firing back: “You don’t have to listen to murderers, actually.”
Thompson, 50, was executed in broad daylight on the streets of Manhattan while heading to a conference.
Some Americans critical of private health insurers have celebrated accused shooter Mangione, combing through the 26-year-old’s public posts and pictures and even creating merch about other “most wanted CEOs.”
But Murphy and other Democratic senators have sought to channel the rage of Americans against private health insurers in the wake of the shooting.
“Ordinary people in this country are not indifferent to the loss of life,” Murphy said in his video post. “But these companies are.”
“The business model of the health care industry is to deny care, necessary medical care to people who need it and force them into bankruptcy, or worse, let them die in order to grow profit,” he added.
Mangione allegedly scrawled “deny,” “defend,” “depose” on bullet casings for the shooting — three words that appear to be a veiled reference to healthcare companies’ perceived schemes to limit medical claims in pursuit of profits, according to the 2010 book “Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It.”
The Connecticut Democrat also argued that while there are “good people” in the health care industry like doctors and nurses, it’s an “immoral system” overall.
Murphy then issued a direct warning to politicians, saying, “If this country’s leaders don’t pay attention to the conversation that’s happening right now, this weekend, that is a mistake.”
Pundits ripped the senator for apparently siding with the frustrated fringe who have been lionizing Mangione.
“Ah okay so if you murder someone you don’t like, we’re all just supposed to do what they want? Insanity,” NewsBusters managing editor Curtis Houck posted on X.
“You’re not well. Get help,” Julie Gunlock, a radio co-host on WMAL’s “O’Connor & Co” chimed in.
Some congressional Democrats have made similar statements about politicians needing to seek healthcare reform after Thompson’s death.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) told the Jacobin earlier this month that what the killing showed “is that many, many people are furious at the health insurance companies who make huge profits denying them and their families the health care that they desperately need.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren also sympathized with the “visceral response” to Mangione “from people across the country who feel cheated, ripped off, and threatened by the vile practices of their insurance companies should be a warning to everyone in the health care system.”
“Violence is never the answer,” she added, “but people can only be pushed so far.”
President-elect Donald Trump in a wide-ranging press conference on Monday said it was “terrible that some people seem to admire” Mangione.
“Just a cold-blooded, horrible killing and how people can like this guy — that’s a sickness actually,” Trump, 78, said.
