‘You can only push people so far’: Elizabeth Warren blasted for framing CEO murder as a ‘warning’

Journalist Taylor Lorenz isn’t the only one making excuses for the suspect in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Democrat, drew double-takes for her comments linking the Dec. 4 murder to greedy billionaires benefiting from federal tax cuts and the “vile practices” of insurance companies.

“What happens when you turn this into the ‘billionaires run it all’ is they get the opportunity to squeeze every last penny,” she told MSNBC host Joy Reid in a Tuesday interview.

“And look, we’ll say it over and over: Violence is never the answer. This guy gets a trial who’s allegedly killed the CEO of UnitedHealth,” Ms. Warren said. “But you can only push people so far. And then they start to take matters into their own hands.”

The solution? “We need regulation in part to rein those guys in.” 

It wasn’t a slip of the tongue. Ms. Warren made similar comments in an interview posted the same day by the Huffington Post, calling the shooting a “warning.”

“The visceral response from people across this 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,” she said.

“Violence is never the answer, but people can be pushed only so far,” Ms. Warren added. “This is a warning that if you push people hard enough, they lose faith in the ability of their government to make change, lose faith in the ability of the people who are providing the health care to make change, and start to take matters into their own hands in ways that will ultimately be a threat to everyone.”

Needless to say, her suggestion that business executives like Thompson somehow deserve what they get drew pushback on social media.

“This statement invents a non-existent connection between the insane murderer and United Healthcare, which did not push this rich kid to do anything, even accidentally. He went crazy and killed someone,” said Billy Gribbin, spokesperson for Sen. Mike Lee, Utah Republican, in a Wednesday post on X.

Indeed, the suspect, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, was raised in a wealthy family in Maryland and attended exclusive schools, including the Gilman School and the University of Pennsylvania.

Conservative pundit Carmine Sabia said on X: “Massachusetts Dem. Sen. Elizabeth Warren makes an excuse for the murder of the UnitedHealthcare CEO. I do not believe one Democrat not named Fetterman has condemned this murder.”

Asked for a response, Ms. Warren walked back her remarks in a statement to HuffPo.

“Violence is never the answer. Period,” she said. “I should have been much clearer that there is never a justification for murder.”

Sen. @ewarren on the UnitedHealth murderer: “Violence is never the answer. This guy gets a trial who’s allegedly killed the CEO of UnitedHealth. But you can only push people so far. And then they start to take matters into their own hands.” pic.twitter.com/xgtBPqDE0Y

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) December 11, 2024

She wasn’t the only left-of-center figure called out for her response to the murder, which saw a masked gunman shoot Thompson in the back as he left his Manhattan hotel.

Ms. Lorenz, a former reporter for The Washington Post, was taken to task Monday on “Piers Morgan Uncensored” for saying that the killing brought her “joy,” accusing “greedy healthcare executives like this one” of contributing to the deaths of millions of Americans by denying them coverage. 

Mr. Morgan responded: “Joy? Serious? Joy at a man’s execution?”

Ms. Lorenz, now a podcaster with Vox Media, ultimately walked her comment back, saying “I take that back. Joyful is the wrong word here.”

Thompson, a 50-year-old graduate of the University of Iowa, leaves behind a wife and two children.