Michael Moore Says He Wants to ‘Pour Gasoline’ on ‘Anger’ at Health Insurance Companies After CEO Assassination

(AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Michael Moore argued “anger” at health insurance companies is “1000% justified” and said that he wants to “pour gasoline” on that anger in a lengthy response to reportedly being mentioned in a suspected killer’s manifesto.

In a Friday Substack post, Moore made it clear he condemns violence and the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, after it was reported that the filmmaker was mentioned in the manifesto found on suspected killer Luigi Mangione when he was arrested.

“It’s not often that my work gets a killer five-star review from an actual killer,” Moore wrote, adding that he’s gotten a wave of media inquiries, including some asking that he’ll talk simply to “condemn murder.”

Mangione reportedly referenced Moore as someone who “illuminated the corruption and greed” at the center of the healthcare industry. Moore directed the 2007 documentary Sicko, a film highly critical of the health care industry in the United States. It was his second highest grossing movie, bringing in nearly $25 million domestically.

“Do I condemn murder? That’s an odd question. In Fahrenheit 9/11, I condemned the murder of hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi people and the senseless murder of our own American soldiers at the hands of our American government,” Moore wrote, going on to argue his filmography and own life constitute proof that he does not condone violence.

What the director does condone is anger at health care insurance companies. Thompson’s death has sparked intense debate about health care in the country and denial rates among health insurance companies. The suspected killer was reportedly suffering from chronic back pain stemming from surgery, and some have even rallied behind Mangione.

“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,” Moore wrote. “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.”

According to Moore, public outrage at health insurance companies is not directly tied to the murder of Thompson. It’s an anger that has been growing for decades.

“Yes, I condemn murder, and that’s why I condemn America’s broken, vile, rapacious, bloodthirsty, unethical, immoral health care industry and I condemn every one of the CEOs who are in charge of it and I condemn every politician who takes their money and keeps this system going instead of tearing it up, ripping it apart, and throwing it all away. We need to replace this system with something sane, something caring and loving — something that keeps people alive,” he wrote.

Moore added that the current moment is one “where we can create that change.”

He also blasted “mainstream media” outlets that refuse to publish Mangione’s manifesto.

Moore ended his lengthy post — which can be read in full here — with a link to his 2007 movie Sicko, now available on YouTube, and a call for the U.S. to adopt a health care system similar to that of  Canada.

“The solution is simple,” he wrote. “Throw this entire system in the trash, dismantle this immoral business that profits off the lives of human beings and monetizes our deaths, that murders us or leaves us to die, destroy it all, and instead, in its place, give us all the same health care that every other civilized country on Earth has: Universal, free, compassionate, and full of life.”