Most young adults believe discontent with the nation’s health insurance system and the killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, share equal responsibility in the executive’s murder, according to a new poll.
Nearly 70% of U.S. adults between the ages of 18 and 29 said “a great deal” or “moderate amount” of responsibility for the Thompson’s murder can be attributed to “denials for health care coverage by health insurance companies,” “profits made by health insurance companies” and “the individual who committed the killing,” according to a survey from NORC at the University of Chicago conducted between Dec. 12-16 with 1,001 adults participating.
Adults between the ages of 18-29 are also the least likely age cohort to believe “a great deal” of the blame for Thompson’s murder falls on Luigi Mangione, the executive’s suspected killer, according to the AP’s interpretation of the poll results. Though roughly 80% of adults over the age of 60 believe “a great deal” of responsibility falls on the Thompson’s killer, only about 40% of adults under 30 state the same.
The majority of adults under 30 also stated that “wealth and income inequality in general” has at least a “moderate amount” of responsibility for Thompson’s murder.
Roughly three in ten of the poll’s participants answered that their immediate family or close friends experienced difficulties in getting coverage from their health insurer over the past year, according to page three of the survey.
The poll’s findings follow a wave of public support for Mangione and fury at the American healthcare system that has spread online since the executive was gunned down walking into a midtown Manhattan hotel on Dec. 4.
Social media users have fawned over Mangione’s looks and scrutinized whether the suspected killer and his attorney wore matching outfits during an appearance in court.
Saturday Night Live’s crowd cheered for Mangione following SNL Weekend Update host Colin Jost mentioning the suspected killer’s name during an episode on Dec. 21.
SNL Weekend Update mentions CEO kiIIer Luigi Mangione and the crowd applauds & cheers pic.twitter.com/Hn6k2kTBp2
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) December 22, 2024
Several left-wing lawmakers have attempted to place Thompson’s assassination in the context of Americans’ alleged broader discontent with the healthcare system.
“What I see happening in this country, though, is a real, visceral anger that the outrage at Brian Thompson’s death, or the outrage at the death of any powerful person, isn’t matched by the anger over the thousands of people who die often anonymous deaths every single day in this country at the hands of a healthcare industry that mostly doesn’t give a sh*t about people and only cares about profits,” Democratic Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy said in a video posted to social media on Dec 16.
“The business model of the healthcare industry is to deny care — necessary medical care — to people who need it and force them into bankruptcy, or worse, let them die, in order to grow profit,” Murphy added.
Taylor Lorenz, a high-profile internet trends reporter who has frequently courted media controversies, also made derogatory comments about Thompson and the health insurance industry following the executive’s murder.
“And people wonder why we want these executives dead,” Lorenz posted in a now-deleted tweet in response to Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield releasing a now-retracted policy to deny claims for certain anesthesia procedures.
Lorenz also tweeted out a photo and the name of Blue Cross Blue Shield’s CEO shortly after Thompson was murdered.
President-elect Donald Trump criticized Americans glorifying Mangione during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Dec. 16.
“I think it’s a terrible thing. It’s really terrible some people seem to admire him,” Trump said.
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