Trump slams supporters of accused UnitedHealthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione

Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News on Dec 16, 2024

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NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump Monday slammed the “cold-blooded” murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and trashed supporters of accused killer Luigi Mangione.

Trump said he was outraged that some Americans have expressed sympathy for the man accused of gunning down Brian Thompson on a Manhattan sidewalk on Dec. 4.

“It’s a terrible thing that people seem to admire ... like him.” Trump told reporters at his first press conference since winning the presidential election. “How people can like this guy is ... that’s a sickness, actually.”

“It seems there’s a certain appetite for (Mangione),” Trump said. “I don’t get it.”

Trump said the execution-style manner of the murder made it particularly disturbing.

“It was just a cold-blooded, horrible killing,” he said. “The way it was done was so bad. Right in the back.”

Mangione, who was arrested last week in Pennsylvania, reportedly decided Monday to waive extradition back to New York where he will face murder and other charges related to the killing of Thompson.

The 26-year-old prep school and University of Pennsylvania graduate allegedly opened fire on Thompson as he walked to an investment conference at the Hilton Hotel on Sixth Ave. before dawn.

Bullet casings found at the murder scene were inscribed with the words, “Deny,” “Defend” and “Depose” according to police sources.

Mangione, who some acquaintances say battled debilitating back pain, allegedly fled the crime scene by e-bike and got on a bus at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in upper Manhattan.

He was arrested at a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania after an employee recognized him from police surveillance photos.

Police who arrested Mangione say his backpack contained handwritten manifesto that blamed health insurance companies for the troubled health care system and defended the idea of shooting an insurance company executive at his own “parasitic bean-counter convention.”

In the days after the murder, some have said Mangione expressed the deep anger that many Americans feel towards the health insurance industry.