TV Host Has Unbelievable Complaint About Fallout of UHC CEO Killing

CNN can’t seem to spot the difference between the assassination of a health insurance executive who made his money denying millions of Americans health care access and the death of innocent people at the hands of police.

On Sunday, CNN host Michael Smerconish lamented that the American public hadn’t rushed to memorialize the outside of the midtown Manhattan Hilton Hotel where UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was assassinated earlier this month.

“I slowed my gait as I passed a side entrance to the Hilton Hotel, realizing that this was the same day in the same early morning hour in the precise location where, one week prior, a 50-year-old father of two was assassinated,” Smerconish monologued on air. “But something was missing. Any sign whatsoever of the tragedy that occurred right here, and which has captivated the nation.”

“We’ve all seen the crime scene that’s been shown many times in the media. But a week later, here’s what was left: a lone piece of NYPD crime tape affixed to a barrier. No memorial of the kind that often appears spontaneously after a similar tragedy.”

Smerconish then went on to compare Thompson’s death to some of the most tragic cultural touchstones in the nation’s recent history, including the murders of John Lennon, George Floyd, Heather Heyer, and Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

“But there was no sign of any makeshift memorial on 51st Street,” Smerconish added in a segment with the on-screen banner “a sad, new normalcy.”

CNN just ran a segment where the host is complaining that there's no memorial to Brian Thompson in NYC, like there was for John Lennon or Heather Heyer or George Floyd. pic.twitter.com/SInYZdjgz3

— Read Abolish Rent (@JPHilllllll) December 16, 2024

What Smerconish seems to be missing, however, is the sad role that Thompson played in a system that increasingly prioritizes shareholder profits over successful medical outcomes for its clients. The public’s response to the executive’s death should be studied, not condemned, as an indictment on the sorry state and exploitative nature of America’s health care industry.

Federal data from 2022 compiled by the personal finance website ValuePenguin found that UnitedHealthcare far outpaced its competitors when it came to denying coverage, rejecting 32 percent, or roughly one in three claims. In 2024, the insurer’s parent group spent more than $5.8 million lobbying Congress on health care–related issues.

Meanwhile, Americans are paying more than ever for health insurance, with costs far outpacing the rate of inflation. A Kaiser Family Foundation report published earlier this year found that the vast majority of U.S. adults are worried about being able to afford a major medical expense, regardless of their financial position.