The battle strains over the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, and the ethics of the well being care business, are receiving extra scrutiny from Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), probably the most high-profile politician but to weigh in on the matter.
Shapiro, who had been into consideration to be Vice President Harris’s operating mate on this 12 months’s election, pushed again laborious in opposition to those that have sought to attenuate the killing of Thompson.
Luigi Mangione, 26, has been charged with homicide within the capturing loss of life of Thompson within the early morning of Dec. 4, shortly earlier than the chief was because of converse at an investor convention in midtown Manhattan.
Shapiro, talking at a Monday night information convention, mentioned, “In some dark corners, this killer is being hailed as a hero. Hear me on this: He is no hero.”
Mangione was arrested in Shapiro’s state, having been acknowledged at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pa.
Shapiro acknowledged that there have been frustrations with the well being care system however condemned those that view violence as a sound response to these considerations.
He mentioned that he had labored for higher well being care provisions “throughout my career” after which said: “But I have no tolerance, nor should anyone, for one man using an illegal ghost gun to murder someone because he thinks his opinion matters most. In a civil society, we are all less safe when ideologues engage in vigilante justice.”
The very fact Shapiro discovered it essential to make these remarks is telling in itself. There are, plainly, fairly just a few People who really feel tolerance, or extra, for Mangione’s perceived views.
Some on social media took glee within the homicide in its instant aftermath, with some mocking the insurance coverage business’s penchant for “prior authorization” to make their emotions clear.
“I’m sorry, prior authorization is required for thoughts and prayers,” was the wording of 1 social media put up that went viral and spawned many different messages utilizing the identical language.
It stays to be seen whether or not the apprehension of Mangione and the formal laying of the homicide cost in opposition to him will have an effect on that sentiment — or improve it.
One put up on the social platform X nominating Mangione as Time journal’s “Person of the Year” — jokingly or in any other case — rapidly drew greater than 14,000 likes.
On the extra flippant finish of the spectrum, Magione’s good-looking look has drawn its personal share of followers, prompting the type of ribald and jocular on-line commentary that appears incongruous with the seriousness of the crime of which he’s accused.
One put up juxtaposed a weeping Kyle Rittenhouse — celebrated by conservatives after his acquittal in a controversial case over his 2020 capturing of three individuals, two fatally, in Kenosha, Wis. — and a shirtless Mangione, accompanied by the caption “their shooters; our shooters.” It had been seen greater than 13 million occasions and appreciated greater than 292,000 occasions by Tuesday night.
Mangione — who police say was carrying a handwritten manifesto that evinced “ill will toward corporate America” — is exhibiting he needs to attract consideration to his beliefs.
On Tuesday, as he was taken to an extradition listening to in Pennsylvania to see if he could be transported to face trial in New York, Mangione shouted a message to the assembled media as regulation enforcement officers sought to bundle him away.
Though a few phrases have been vague, Mangione appeared to say, “This is completely unjust and an insult to the intelligence of the American people and their lived experience.”
It was unclear what he meant by “this” — which might have referred to his arrest, his charging or his tried extradition.
Tuesday additionally introduced the purported publication of Mangione’s manifesto by unbiased journalist Ken Klippenstein.
The Hill has but to independently confirm the authenticity of the manifesto posted by Klippenstein, however it appeared credible. The journalist additionally made clear that his doc was totally different from a separate “forgery circulating online.”
Based on the model printed by Klippenstein, Mangione wrote, “Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming. A reminder: the US has the #1 most expensive healthcare system in the world, yet we rank roughly #42 in life expectancy.”
That determine seems up to now again to a 2007 survey however the normal level is correct. Some surveys recommend the U.S.’s life expectancy rating has fallen even additional since then. In 2022, one research ranked life expectancy in the US as forty ninth on the earth.
The purported manifesto went on to notice the huge market capitalization of UnitedHealthcare. Its guardian firm UnitedHealth Group Inc. was valued at $520 billion based mostly on Tuesday’s closing inventory value.
“It has grown and grown, but as … our life expectancy? No the reality is, these [indecipherable] have simply gotten too powerful, and they continue to abuse our country for immense profit because the American public has allwed … them to get away with it.” Mangione allegedly wrote.
It appears pretty clear that numerous People, throughout the political spectrum, share these sentiments — even when they don’t assume capturing a well being care CEO to loss of life on the road is the answer.
Polling from the Kaiser Household Basis discovered that, in 2022, virtually half of all People (47 %) mentioned they discovered it “very difficult” or “somewhat difficult” to afford their well being care prices.
One other survey from the identical group discovered that greater than 1 in 5 People who had medical insurance had nonetheless delay getting well being care they wanted within the earlier 12 months due to the price.
Lots of people who sympathize with Mangione’s obvious outlook would abhor the deed he’s alleged to have dedicated.
But it surely’s not so stunning that antagonism towards the insurers has, in some cases, seeped right into a minimization of Thompson’s killing.
Shapiro’s intervention appears unlikely to alter that.
The Memo is a reported column by Niall Stanage.
