Taylor Lorenz Proves Why She Needs To Be Heard and Not Silenced By Calling Luigi Mangione 'Morally Good'

At the end of 2024, there were calls to stop platforming former Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz. 

At the time, Lorenz was amidst a joy campaign over the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. No, literally. She used the term "joy" to describe how hearing about Thompson's murder made her feel.

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

"I do believe in the sanctity of life and I think that’s why I felt, along with so many other Americans, joy, unfortunately," she responded.

While Lorenz's comments were obviously disturbing, we argued against the calls to silence and ignore her. In fact, Lorenz's comment about the murdered father of two and husband is proof of why censorship is rarely the answer.

Censoring Lorenz would have benefited her. De-platforming her would have saved her from exposing herself as the mentally unwell person she so clearly revealed herself to be.

As a rule, a ghoul will eventually convict themselves if you let them speak. So, let them. So, let them. There is no better way to weed out the most destructive minds among us than by letting them self-destruct.

And self-destruct is what Taylor Lorenz continues to do.

On Sunday, Lorenz appeared on an episode of CNN’s "MisinfoNation" (what a name for a show on CNN) with host Donie O’Sullivan to discuss the fangirls who have flocked to support Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old charged with the early morning murder of Thompson.

"To see these millionaire media pundits on TV clutching their pearls about someone stanning a murderer when this is the United States of America," Lorenz said. "As if we don’t lionize criminals, as if we don’t have, you know, we don’t stan murderers of all sorts, and we can give them Netflix shows. There’s a huge disconnect between the narratives and the angles that mainstream media pushes and what the American public feels."

She's not wrong that the stories of women falling in love with murderers in prison date back to the Old West. That said, those women are viewed as unstable. And interest in true crime documentaries on Netflix is different from taking "joy" in seeing someone murdered on surveillance footage, as Lorenz admits she did. 

"You’re going to see women especially that feel like, Oh my God, right? Like, here’s this man who’s revolutionary, who’s famous, who’s handsome, who is young, who’s smart," she continued. "He’s a person that seems like this morally good man, which is hard to find."

Oh, is that so?

Here is what we know about Luigi Mangione: He attended preppy schools like Gilman School and the University of Pennsylvania. He is facing charges of federal murder, stalking, state murder, and terrorism. His mother reportedly told the New York Police Department the shooting "might be something that she could see him doing." He has had several angry outbursts caught on camera since his arrest.

That is who Taylor Lorenz described as a "revolutionary" and "morally good" man.

CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 26: Taylor Lorenz accepts an award onstage at the WIBA Awards during The 76th Annual Cannes Film Festival on May 26, 2023 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Victor Boyko/Getty Images for WIBA ACADEMY LLC)

Unless COVID irrationality actually damaged Lorenz's brain – she still wears a mask, based on recent photos – she was probably always a troubled, eccentric individual. And yet, people used to take her seriously. She worked for both the Washington Post and the New York Times. Vox invested in her as a podcast talent. Her reporting on the Bloomberg 2020 presidential campaign was wildly cited across the industry.

All of that is over.

Lorenz is no longer part of the Cool Kids of Media club. No legitimate news organization takes her seriously anymore. She is now relegated to obscure podcast appearances with Mehdi Hasan, a fundamentally rotten person who was too abhorrent for even MSNBC, where she recently wished death on Joe Biden.

But unlike the many individuals Lorenz spent over a decade trying to cancel—her reign of terror culminated with her failed smear campaign of Libs of TikTok founder Chaya Raichik—no one canceled Lorenz. She canceled herself. 

No hit-piece journalist dug up her past to destroy her career. No Soros-funded watchdog purposely took her words out of context to pressure her sponsors to dissociate. No disgruntled former secretary lied about her behavior.

Taylor Lorenz destroyed her own career.

Silencing her would only stop her and others like her from exposing themselves as unhinged, depraved individuals detached from decency. So, let her continue. Let her continue to unmask herself – figuratively, of course.