During a recent event, tech billionaire Peter Thiel surprised the audience with an incoherent and hesitant response to a question regarding the public’s perception of the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Luigi Mangione, aged 26, was arrested on firearm charges at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, following the fatal shooting of Thompson, 50, outside a hotel in Manhattan. The arrest occurred five days after the incident.
The response from the public has unveiled a notable level of empathy for Mangione, coupled with frustration towards Thompson and the healthcare industry, especially critiquing figures like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
The PayPal co-founder, 57, appeared on Piers Morgan Uncensored Thursday and was asked for what he thought of those who are furious with the likes of Thompson because they believe the American healthcare system is unfair.
He appeared sweaty and stammered through his answer: ‘Um… it’s… uh… I don’t know what to say.’
Thiel eventually said: ‘I still think you should try to make an argument and I think this is… there may be things wrong with our healthcare system but you have to make an argument and you have to try to find a way to convince people and change it by that.
‘This is not going to work. I don’t know. All sorts of things one could say about it but I don’t think… again, I think the motives feel… I don’t want to go into all the particulars here but I don’t think there’s anything heroic about him,’ he added.
Reaction to the billionaire’s answer online was brutal, with one person – who referred to Thiel as ‘Antichrist’ – calling it the worst response you could possibly give.
‘If someone can find a worse answer to any question, I’d love to see it. This is excruciating.’
‘This is ASTOUNDING. there are toddlers who can string sentences together better than this,’ wrote another.
Someone else commented: ‘People who don’t have billions think having billions makes you smart or insightful. It doesn’t.’
Others pointed out his clearly distressed visage in the video, with one asking: ‘Why is he sweating so much?’
‘Peter stuttered through it for 3 minutes, frozen, but was unable to say ‘Murder is wrong.’ They must remove that in CEO school.’
Earlier, Thiel was able to make a somewhat stronger statement about Mangione’s killing of Thompson.
‘I don’t think that one should ever glamorize murder and, man, it probably just tells us more about how crazy some of these people are who are saying these things…I don’t think it tells us much about this case but it tells us we are in a really crazy society.’
Earlier today, ‘squad’ Democrat Ocasio-Cortez reflected a lot of the left’s response to the murder.
The Democrat from New York argued that Americans ‘feel and experience denied claims as an act of violence against them’ as she spoke with CBS News about the reaction – and sometimes praise – for accused assassin Luigi Mangione.
‘I think that this collective American experience, which is so twisted to have in the wealthiest nation in the world, all of that pain that people have experienced is being concentrated on this,’ she told Jaala Brown on the steps of Congress.
‘And it’s really important that we take a step back.
‘This is not to comment and this is not to say that an act of violence is justified, but I think for anyone who is confused, or is shocked, or appalled, they need to understand that people interpret, and feel and experience denied claims as an act of violence against them.
‘People go homeless over the financial devastation of a diagnosis that doesn’t get addressed or the amount they’re going to have to cover with a surprise bill and things like that.
‘When we kind of talk about how systems are violent in this country, in this passive way, our privatized healthcare system is like that for a huge amount of Americans,’ Ocasio-Cortez continued, noting that she did not even have health insurance until she was elected to Congress.
Her comments came as Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren was forced to walk back her comments about the shooting.
These reactions come as the twists and turns that led to Mangione’s arrest continue to stun the nation.
Police in San Francisco had apparently recognized Mangione as the accused murderer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson days before he was arrested in Pennsylvania.
An officer in the police department’s Special Victims Unit was combing through surveillance images the New York Police Department released of the suspected killer, and recognized him as Mangione on December 5 – just one day after the shooting, police sources told the San Francisco Chronicle.
The officer had been looking into Mangione’s disappearance since his mother, Kathleen, reported him missing in mid-November.
She claimed she had not spoken to her son since July 1, and noted that he worked for San Francisco-based TrueCar, an online automotive marketplace – apparently not realizing he had been laid off in 2023.
Upon recognizing the suspect, the suspect is said to have called the FBI and provide the bureau with Mangione’s name – despite law enforcement officials later saying the 26-year-old was not on their radar until his arrest in Pennsylvania on Monday.
He was taken into custody on firearm charges that day after stopping at a McDonald’s in Altoona for a bite to eat, where a customer also recognized him.
Mangione was said to have had a 3D-printed pistol and black silencer loaded with one Glock magazine comprising six 9mm full-metal jacket rounds that the NYPD has said matched those of bullets found at the scene of Thompson’s assassination.
The suspect also reportedly had a manifesto outlining his grievances against UnitedHealthcare after suffering a debilitating back injury which required painful spinal surgery.
Mangione appeared in court on Tuesday to face the Pennsylvania gun charges, where he had a ferocious public meltdown hours earlier.
The orange jumpsuit-clad suspect had to be restrained as he screamed at police while heading into court.
His lawyer, Thomas Dickey, has since claimed Mangione was just ‘agitated’ that he did not have legal representation at the time.
Dickey has also said his client will plead not guilty to the homicide charges in New York and the gun charges in Pennsylvania – as he continues to fight extradition to the Big Apple.
