Fired Over One Ugly Trump Comment

Adriana Stone 0 1 min read

Fired Over One Ugly Trump Comment

UnitedHealthcare has fired a social media manager after a TikTok video about the Saturday shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner went viral. The clip, reportedly posted by Alison King, drew backlash after she appeared to joke about the fact that President Donald Trump was not killed. In a job built around public messaging, the post landed hard and fast.

“We’re cooked as a country when my first reaction to hearing the news about Trump’s attempt was, ‘It was probably fake,’” Alison King, who has reportedly deleted her LinkedIn account but was identified as a social media manager for UnitedHealthcare, said in the video.

“Like, immediately I was like, ‘Oh, that wasn’t real, probably fake,’” King said. “And the second was ‘Aww, they missed? So happy they missed.’ Yeah, that’s sad,” King said sarcastically. “That’s when you know we’re cooked,” King added.

That was enough for the company to cut ties. In a Tuesday statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for UnitedHealthcare said, “Violence is never acceptable and any comments that suggest otherwise are in no way consistent with our mission and values. The person who made comments online about Saturday night’s incident at a Washington event where President Trump and many other political leaders were gathered is no longer employed by the company.”

The reaction online was immediate. People were already angry that someone in a public-facing role would post something so cold about an apparent assassination attempt. For a company, the bar is not complicated. Don’t celebrate violence. Don’t joke about it. And don’t act shocked when there are consequences. This kind of post is the sort of thing that can end a career in a matter of hours.

Incidents like this keep showing how fast social media can blow up a private moment into a public firing. It also shows why employers watch employees’ online behavior so closely. If you work in communications, the basics matter even more. One careless post can turn into a headline, a backlash, and a pink slip before the day is over.

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