‘Sickness’: Donald Trump lashes Luigi Mangione fandom

Donald Trump says he doesn’t “get” the reaction surrounding alleged CEO killer Luigi Mangione who’s facing a murder charge.

Donald Trump has slammed the dark fandom of those who have held up alleged CEO assassin Luigi Mangione as an antihero, saying he believes the admiration was a form of “sickness”.

Mr Mangione, 26, faces charges including second-degree murder over the shooting of UnitedHealthcare boss Brian Thompson outside a New York hotel on December 4.

Since being charged, donations have poured in to fund Mr Mangione’s legal defence with some supporters describing the alleged murder as “justifiable” as Americans vent their frustration at the country’s health insurance system.

President-elect Mr Trump was asked on Monday, US time, his thoughts on the “reaction” surrounding Ivy League-educated Mr Mangione who has also been positioned as a sex-symbol.

“I think it’s a terrible thing,” Mr Trump said. “I think it’s really terrible that some people seem to admire him, like him.”

The incoming president said he was glad the response “wasn’t specific to this gentleman who was killed” adding it was “an overall sickness as opposed to a specific sickness”.

“That was a terrible thing. it was cold-blooded … and how people can like this guy, that’s a sickness actually,” he said.

“That’s really very bad, especially the way it was done – it was so bad – right in the back.

President-elect Donald Trump spoke on the shooting at his Mar-a-Lago resort. Picture: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images North America via AFP

“Thing like that you just can’t believe that some people … and maybe it’s fake news, I don’t know, it’s hard to believe that can even be thought of.

“But it seems there’s a certain appetite for him, I don’t get it.”

US comedian Bill Burr recently remarked on the apparent “lack of empathy” Americans had toward Mr Thompson following his death on the Anything Better? podcast.

“I was sitting there reading an article and a guy was like, ‘Oh my god, he’s such a great guy. He had a wife and kids, and he’s such a great guy,’” Burr said.

“And then you find out, he and the other guys he’s working for are getting sued for $121 million for dumping a stock and not letting the other people know.

“It’s like, there’s your motive. They’re gangsters, dude.”

Luigi Mangione, accused of gunning down health insurance executive Brian Thompson in New York. Picture: Pennsylvania Department of Corrections/AFP

The shooting and initial mystery of who allegedly carried it out gripped the US, and the world. Bullets found at the scene allegedly had the words “deny”, “depose” and “delay” carved into them, echoing popular criticism of health insurance tactics.

New York police have speculated that a “life-changing, life-altering” back injury may have helped drive Mr Mangione to allegedly gun down Mr Thompson.

A nationwide manhunt ended last Monday when he was recognised at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania.

Detectives have been focused on what may have motivated the data engineer, a University of Pennsylvania graduate from a wealthy Baltimore family, to allegedly shoot Mr Thompson.

Luigi Mangione was caught after he aroused the suspicions of staff in a McDonald's restaurant. Picture: Pennsylvania State Police Department/AFP

The 26-year-old has sparked a huge reaction. Picture facebook.

Speculation had swirled about Mr Mangione’s health, after a photo on what appeared to be one of his social media accounts featured an X-ray of a spine with a medical implement.

“It seems that he had an accident that caused him to go to the emergency room back in July of 2023, and that it was a life-changing injury,” New York Police Department Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told NBC New York on Thursday.

“He posted X-rays of screws being inserted into his spine. So the injury that he suffered was, was a life-changing, life-altering injury, and that’s what may have put him on this path.”

He also said that police had found “no indication that (Mr Mangione) was ever a client of UnitedHealthcare” and suggested he may have targeted the company because it was the largest healthcare organisation in the US.

A poster spotted in Sydney’s inner west featuring the likeness of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Brian Thomspson was shot outside a New York hotel. Picture: UnitedHealth Group/AFP

Police have said that Mr Mangione’s fingerprints matched those found near the crime scene, and that shell casings match the gun found on him when he was arrested.

But they have not yet been able to access what is believed to be his phone, nor have they spoken to his family, NBC reported.

Mr Mangione remains jailed in Pennsylvania as he fights efforts to extradite him to New York to face justice over the killing.

The moment Brian Thompson was shot. Picture: NYPD/AFP

ABC News reported on Thursday that prosecutors at the Manhattan district attorney’s office have begun presenting evidence to a grand jury over the killing. If they win an indictment that could strengthen their case for extradition.

Police have said that when he was arrested, Mr Mangione had a three-page handwritten text criticising the US health care system, which is often criticised for putting profits ahead of people.

He also had a notebook with him containing planning notes for the murder, The New York Times reported, citing law enforcement sources.

“What do you do? You wack the CEO at the annual parasitic bean-counter convention. It’s targeted, precise, and doesn’t risk innocents,” said one entry according to The Times.