Earlier today, during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago, President-elect Donald Trump shared his thoughts on the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
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After being asked his view on the reaction surrounding Thompson’s death — which has overwhelmingly spawned a larger conversation about issues within the US healthcare and medical insurance system — Trump told reporters, “I think it’s terrible. I think it’s a terrible thing.”
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Then, seemingly in reference to some members of the public either thirsting over or justifying the alleged actions of suspect Luigi Mangione, Trump added: “I think it’s really terrible that some people seem to admire him, like him.”
“That was a terrible thing. It was cold-blooded. Just a cold-blooded, horrible killing.”
“And how people can like this guy is, uh, that’s a sickness, actually,” he said.
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The exchange was captured in a clip that has since circulated on X (formerly known as Twitter), where it’s receiving a wide range of responses.
Some can’t help but agree with the sentiment that people should not “seem to admire” a suspected killer.
Others, however, flipped the point of view and suggested that they couldn’t understand how some people admire Trump despite his actions.
“Mr +30 felony’s over here got something to say,” one person tweeted, seemingly questioning how Trump himself can be seen as admirable despite being found guilty on 34 charges of falsifying business documents in his now-infamous hush money trial.
Meanwhile, some pointed out what they believe is hypocrisy in Trump’s sentiments, as he and vice president-elect JD Vance recently hosted Daniel Penny in their presidential suite during Saturday’s Army-Navy football game.
As a reminder, Penny is a former Marine who was acquitted of criminally negligent homicide in the 2023 death of subway performer Jordan Neely. At the time, Penny held Neely in a chokehold for about six minutes after Neely — who was unarmed — entered a train car, threw his jacket to the ground, and reportedly said he was hungry and thirsty and wanted to go back to jail.
According to some passengers, Neely did not approach anyone on the car. Though, one said he made “lunging movements,” NBC reported.
In a video of the incident, a bystander can be heard yelling: “He’s dying… Let him go!”
According to Penny, he reportedly told detectives that he was trying to “de-escalate the situation.”
“Wasn’t he just at a football game with the White guy that killed that black guy on the subway??? So, it’s a sickness when the victim is white???” one person tweeted about Trump and Penny.
Similarly, another wrote, “but he loves himself some kyle rittenhouse.”
Rittenhouse is facing two civil lawsuits following an incident in 2020 when he traveled to Kenosha, Wisconsin, during protests following the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Rittenhouse, who came armed, fatally shot two men and injured a third. He claimed self-defense and was ultimately acquitted of criminal charges. The civil lawsuits are still pending, including a wrongful death lawsuit.
Trump called Rittenhouse a “nice young man.”
What are your thoughts on the situation? Let us know in the comments.
