Elizabeth Warren says killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO was a warning: 'You can only push people so far'
Warren walks back comments: 'I should have been much clearer that there is never a justification for murder'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said in interviews this week that the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was wrong but also served as a "warning" of sorts that "you can only push people so far."
"We'll say it over and over," Warren said on MSNBC. "Violence is never the answer. This guy [Luigi Mangione] gets a trial who's allegedly killed the CEO of UnitedHealth[care], but you can only push people so far, and then they start to take matters into their own hands."
Mangione was arrested Monday after a manhunt and charged with Thompson's murder, which was committed outside a hotel in Manhattan last week. Mangione has become a folk hero to some far-left figures who feel Thompson's death is comeuppance for health insurance providers like UnitedHealthcare that deny coverage or charge exorbitant premiums.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Warren made similar remarks about the killing in an interview with progressive outlet HuffPost.
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren discusses the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson with MSNBC's Joy Reid.
"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," Warren said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Violence is never the answer, but people can be pushed only so far," she 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."
Far-left MSNBC host Joy Reid suggested to Warren on Tuesday that Thompson's killing wasn't the way for those fed up with the health insurance system to create change, seeming to say it was poor strategy.
"You have to regulate them," Reid said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FORMER WAPO REPORTER SAYS ‘WE WANT THESE EXECUTIVES DEAD’ AFTER THE MURDER OF INSURANCE CEO
Warren's explanation of the killing drew sharp criticism from conservatives and eventually prompted a walkback.
Luigi Mangione pictured in a Pennsylvania mugshot after his arrest in connection with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
"Warren is a disaster for her party, a disaster for America, and a disaster for the basic human decency that we are entitled to expect from our politicians — no ifs or buts apply," National Review's Charles C. W. Cooke wrote.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"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," Billy Gribbin, the communications director for GOP Utah Sen. Mike Lee, wrote on X. "He went crazy and killed someone."
Warren clarified her remarks on Wednesday.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Violence is never the answer. Period," she told Fox News Digital. "I should have been much clearer that there is never a justification for murder."
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed in midtown Manhattan on Wednesday morning last week. (Photo Credit: Businesswire | NYPD Crimestoppers)