Fox News host Sean Hannity attacked liberal commentator Taylor Lorenz after she praised Luigi Mangione in an interview, telling her that she has a “missing chip.”
The technology journalist and commentator appeared on Hannity’s show Wednesday after being criticized by conservatives for her “joy” and “handsome” comments regarding Mangione, who is accused of murdering United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 50, last December.
“I’m trying to understand what is in your soul that doesn’t understand he’s a father and a husband here. What are you missing? There seems to be a missing chip with you?” Hannity said.
Just two weeks prior, Attorney General Pam Bondi directed federal prosecutors to seek capital punishment for the "premeditated, cold-blooded assassination" of Thompson, which unfolded in December last year on a New York City street.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to murder and terror charges.
Hannity continued to grill Lorenz: “Right, try and explain this to me, you feel joy[...] Those are your words that you ‘felt joy’ over the murder of this father?”
Lorenz began shaking her head and denied Hannity’s accusations.
“So let me just be extra clear: never did I say that I felt joy in his death,” Lorenz began.
“I said very explicitly, if you played the full segment [...] I said that I felt joy along with millions of other Americans that the brutality of our healthcare system was finally being acknowledged.”
“I believe that our current healthcare system is murderous,” she added.
Lorenz later explained to Hannity during the segment that she believed the thousands of American people who die each year because of a lack of adequate health insurance was “a violence in itself that is assassination.”
The commentator went on to raise the repercussions of a damaged U.S. healthcare system, which she said was plagued by exploitative insurance companies.
Hannity then doubled down on her glamorization and “seal of approval on murder and assassination” and said he could not comprehend whose side she was on.
“You’re advocating and putting a smiley face on assassination,” he chastised.
Lorenz is known for becoming embroiled in controversial American debates in the media, and has been a popular target of hatred and abuse from the right.
One outlet went so far as to brand her as “perhaps the most harassed technology journalist in America.”
Since the fiery showdown, Lorenz posted an Instagram story that berated Hannity, writing: “They finally let me fight this ***** on air.”
Mangione’s next federal court date is set for April 18, followed by a state hearing on June 26.
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