Donald Trump Speaks Out On Luigi Mangione Praise

Donald Trump says “It’s really terrible” that people like and admire Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania on Dec. 9 following a week-long manhunt.

The 26-year-old was indicted on Dec. 17 and charged with first-degree murder and terrorism. He was also charged with several other counts including second-degree murder and several gun possession charges.

Thompson, 50, was murdered on Dec. 4 in New York City outside the Hilton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan.

Trump gave a press conference on Dec. 16. In a video shared on YouTube by NBC News, the twice-impeached president said that it was “terrible” that so many people admired Mangione. The accused killer received praise on social media due to the unpopularity of insurance companies and for his good looks.

“I think it’s really terrible that some people seem to admire him, like him,” Trump said. “I was happy to see that it wasn’t specific to this gentleman that was killed. It’s just an overall sickness as opposed to a specific sickness … That was a terrible thing. It was cold-blooded. Just a cold-blooded, horrible killing.”

“And how people can like this guy is a … that’s a sickness, actually,” he added.

He went on to say, “Maybe it’s fake news … It seems that there’s a certain appetite for him. I don’t get it.”

Mangione was reportedly arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania on Dec. 9 after he got off a Greyhound bus to go inside a local McDonald’s.

He was recognized and later apprehended with a 9 mm firearm with a homemade silencer, two ammunition magazines, a 3D-printed receiver, and several live cartridges, ABC News reports.

Thompson was shot twice — once in the back and once in the calf — as he attended an investor conference for UnitedHealthcare in New York. The shooting was captured on video and showed a man who appeared to be Mangione firing his weapon at the father of two after lying in wait for the CEO.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said that Mangione specifically targeted Thompson, although Mangione did not seem to be under that insurance provider. “This was a killing to evoke terror,” Bragg said. “This was not an ordinary killing … this was extraordinary.”

According to NPR, Mangione noted his frustration with the healthcare system with posts on social media. The Ivy League graduate and Baltimore native was also reportedly arrested with a handwritten letter laying out his grievances and calling out corporate greed.

Mangione spoke of a “capitalist society” on Reddit after noting that he’d had spinal surgery to help his chronic back pain. He advised another user about dealing with the healthcare system and insurance companies.

Many people were surprised to see the support Mangione received on social media after his views about the healthcare industry were revealed, including comedian Chris Rock.

During a recent appearance on Saturday Night Live, Rock joked about the praise Mangione was getting on social media, as previously reported by The Blast.

“We got Luigi … you know. And that’s good. I really feel sorry for the family. I mean, everybody is fixated on how good this guy looks,” he said. “If he looked like Jonah Hill no one would care. They’d already given him the chair already. He’d be dead, OK?”

Rock also noted that Thompson had two children.

“I mean, I have condolences … I have real condolences for the health care CEO. This is a real person, you know?” he said. “But you also got to go, ‘You know, sometimes drug dealers get shot.’ I mean, you’ve seen ‘The Wire,’ right?”

People on social media have been praising Mangione and calling him a saint. Once X user called him a “hero” for taking a stand against the healthcare system.

“He took action against private health insurance corporations is what he did,” the user wrote. “He was a brave Italian martyr. In this house, LuigiMangione is a hero, end of story!”

New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said she found the praise “shocking.”

“We have seen a shocking and appalling celebration of cold-blooded murder,” she said. “Social media has erupted with praise for this cowardly attack. People ghoulishly plastered posters threatening the CEOs, other CEOs, with an ‘x’ over Mr. Thompson’s picture as though he was some sort of a sick trophy.”

“This was a senseless act of violence. It was a cold and calculated crime that stole a life and put New Yorkers at risk. We don’t celebrate murders, and we don’t lionize the killing of anyone,” she added.