Filmmaker Michael Moore, reacting to being named in the manifesto of alleged killer Luigi Mangione, said Friday he wants to "pour gasoline" on the anger being directed at the health insurance industry, which is "1,000% justified," while condemning the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last week.
In a column posted to Substack, Moore reminded readers he's a pacifist and that every movie he's made has "condemned the murder" of innocent victims of war and industry, including the healthcare industry.
Moore directed the 2007 film "Sicko" that was ostensibly referenced by Mangione in his manifesto railing against the healthcare industry. Mangione wrote that Moore was an example of someone who "illuminated the corruption and greed" of the healthcare industry.
Wrote Moore:
"We pay more people to deny care than to give it. 1 million doctors to give care, 1.4 million brutes in cubicles doing their best to stop doctors from giving that care. If the purpose of 'health care' is to keep people alive, then what is the purpose of DENYING PEOPLE HEALTH CARE? Other than to kill them? I definitely condemn that kind of murder."
Authorities found on Mangione a three-page manifesto and spiral notebook that included a 262-word handwritten note, which began by appearing to take responsibility for Thompson's murder.
"After the killing of the CEO of United HealthCare, the largest of these billion dollar insurance companies, there was an immediate OUTPOURING of anger toward the health insurance industry. Some people have stepped forward to condemn this anger," wrote the "Bowling for Columbine" and "Fahrenheit 9/11" director. "I am not one of them.
"The anger is 1000% justified. It is long overdue for the media to cover it. It is not new. It has been boiling. And I'm not going to tamp it down or ask people to shut up. I want to pour gasoline on that anger," he wrote.
"Because this anger is not about the killing of a CEO. If everyone who was angry was ready to kill the CEOs, the CEOs would already be dead," he wrote. "That is not what this reaction is about.
"It is about the mass death and misery — the physical pain, the mental abuse, the medical debt, the bankruptcies in the face of denied claims and denied care and bottomless deductibles on top of ballooning premiums — that this 'health care' industry has levied against the American people for decades," he wrote.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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