'The View' co-host says mockery of UnitedHealthcare CEO's murder just shows 'how people are feeling'

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Hostin says mockery of UnitedHealthcare CEO's just 'shows how people are feeling'

'The View' co-host Sunny Hostin said that the wave of jokes and celebration of what appears to be the targeted assassination of a UnitedHealthcare CEO shows how many Americans feel about the healthcare system.

One of the co-hosts of ABC's "The View" suggested on Friday that jokes about the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson show Americans’ frustration with the healthcare system. 

Following the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in midtown Manhattan on Wednesday, some far-left journalists and social media users were quick to offer celebratory, mocking or sneering reactions to his shocking death.

Former Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz was among the most prominent voices, writing a post titled "Why ‘we’ want insurance executives dead," doubling down on her many social media posts seeming to celebrate and justify Thompson's murder.

Co-hosts of "The View" expressed their shock about the murder, but some argued these responses were not a surprise.

Co-host Sunny Hostin offered her thoughts on the assassination of the United Healthcare CEO.

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"You know, I think what has shocked me the most is the anger that is being reflected against this man, who is a father and a husband, who was murdered," co-host Sunny Hostin said. 

"I mean, I was looking at some of the social media comments, and I try to stay away from social media, but it said some of the comments were ‘thoughts and deductibles to the family.’ One of the comments was, ‘Unfortunately, my condolences are out of network.’ And so, I think it really — isn’t that something? I think it’s reflective about how people are feeling about their healthcare."

She went on to discuss how Americans are taking their anger about the healthcare system on Thompson.

"If you look at this particular CEO, while he made $10 million a year, which is not actually unusual for a company this size, this particular health company, United Healthcare, is the largest company responsible for Medicare programs for people over the age of 65," Hostin added.

"And our country is one of the only countries that doesn’t have universal healthcare, and we don’t take care of our elderly and people are feeling the pinch. We talk about that all the time," she said. "I think people are really angry at the healthcare system and, unfortunately, it’s translating to this father."

Bullets lie on the sidewalk at the scene outside the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan where Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was fatally shot, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in New York. (Stefan Jeremiah/AP)

Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin later responded that she had seen some prominent figures on the far-left who were celebrating the killing, but refused to amplify their rhetoric. 

"If you want to effect change in this country, it is a democracy," she said. "Organize, activate, get out and talk to people, talk your congressman. Violence is absolutely never the answer and to single out one individual because you have an issue with a company or entire industry that’s been fraught for decades."

"Don’t vote for Republicans," co-host Joy Behar advised, "Because they wanna overthrow Obamacare."

Later, co-host Ana Navarro referenced an Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield policy change that would have revised its billing standards for anesthesia treatment and not pay for those services after a set time limit for a given operation, going on to cite how both the elderly and children are impacted by difficulties within the healthcare system.

"So I think there’s a lot of frustration in this country, and, you know, we have to have a national conversation," she said.

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Hours after news broke of Thompson's murder, Lorenz wrote on the social media site Bluesky, "And people wonder why we want these executives dead," alongside an article about the Blue Cross Blue Shield anesthesia policy.

Lorenz went on to share images of Blue Cross Blue Shield CEO Kim Keck and reposted others' calls for health insurance executives to be targeted. 

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After the backlash, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield backtracked on imposing the anesthesia policy.