Sean Hannity rips Taylor Lorenz for 'putting a smiley face on assassination', says she's 'missing a chip'

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Fox News heavyweight Sean Hannity was not holding back on Wednesday night when he went head-to-head with controversial journalist Taylor Lorenz.

The topic was Lorenz’s disturbing reaction to the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Hannity accused her of celebrating the murder and “putting a smiley face on assassination.”

Sean Hannity goes scorched earth on journalist Taylor Lorenz

“Try to explain this to me. You feel joy, those are your words. You felt joy over the murder of this father?” Hannity pressed. Lorenz shook her head furiously in disagreement, but Hannity wasn’t letting it go.

“No, those are the words you used. You can shake your head all you want, and we have the tape," he continued.

“Now let me ask you, what part of this UnitedHealthcare CEO being a father and a husband don’t you understand, and what part of you having the choice of what healthcare provider you choose to deal with or not do you not understand?” Hannity asked, as quoted by Mediaite.

Lorenz tried to salvage the moment. “Let me just be extra clear. Never did I say that I felt joy in his death,” she insisted.

“I said very explicitly, if you play the full segment – and actually people can watch that segment on my YouTube in full, not the edited version that Piers [Morgan] showed – I said that I felt joy along with millions of other Americans that the brutality of our healthcare system was finally being acknowledged.”

She added, “I believe that our current system is murderous, right? I mean, we have uninsured Americans with a 40% higher risk of death compared to insured.”

Hannity wasn’t buying it.

“Alright, Taylor, we can talk about healthcare all night, but that’s not the topic,” he snapped.

“Taylor, that’s not the topic. I don’t like the healthcare system either, and a lot of people have experienced frustration like you are saying. That to me is separate and apart from the debate of praising, calling 'handsome,' 'smart,' 'intelligent,' and being joyful over the death and assassination of innocent people, and that’s what your comments did.”

“Your comments basically put your seal of approval on murder and assassination, and I’m trying to understand, whether you like this guy or like the way he does business or not, you’re advocating and putting a smiley face on assassination, and I’m trying to understand what is in your soul that doesn’t understand he’s a father and a husband here," he fumed.

Hannity ended the segment by asking, “What are you missing? There seems to be a missing chip with you.”

The man at the center of it all, Luigi Mangione, was arrested last December for the cold-blooded execution of Brian Thompson, who gunned down in Manhattan.

Lorenz’s comments about the incident went viral for all the wrong reasons. Shortly after Thompson’s death, she admitted she felt “joy” after hearing the news.

Piers Morgan earlier grilled Taylor Lorenz

Before Sean Hannity took her on, Lorenz had already been scorched by Piers Morgan on 'Piers Morgan Uncensored'. And he was equally stunned by her reaction to the murder.

“Why would you be in such a celebratory mood about the execution of another human being?” Morgan asked. “Aren’t you supposed to be on the caring, sharing left where, you know, you believe in the sanctity of life?”

Lorenz replied: “I do believe in the sanctity of life, and I think that’s why I felt, along with so many other Americans, joy, unfortunately.”

Morgan blinked in disbelief. “Joy?! Serious? Joy at a man’s execution?” he asked.

Lorenz tried to clarify: “Maybe not joy, but certainly not empathy.”

But Morgan wouldn’t let up. “How can this make you joyful? This guy is a husband, he’s a father, and he’s been gunned down in the middle of Manhattan. Why does that make you joyful?”

“So are the tens of thousands of Americans that he murdered!" Lorenz snapped.

"So are the tens of thousands of Americans, innocent Americans, who died because greedy health insurance executives like this one push a policy of denying care to the most vulnerable people, and I am a part of the many millions of Americans that have watched people that I care about suffer and in some cases die because of lack of healthcare."

Morgan shot back, “So should they all be killed then? Should they all be killed, these healthcare executives? Would that make you even more joyful?”

Lorenz laughed nervously and replied, “Uh, no.”

Morgan wasn’t amused. “Well, why not? Why are you laughing? You seem to find the whole thing hilarious. A bloke’s been murdered in the street. I don’t find it funny at all,” he snapped.

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