Reporting on swooning over the suspected murderer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson made for an awkward moment when a CNN host called to “drop the banner.”
(Video Credit: CNN)
Like the failed assassination attempts on now-President-elect Donald Trump and the harassment of conservative Supreme Court justices, the murder of a husband and father who happened to head a health insurance company was wholly dehumanized by a wide swath of leftists.
Tacking onto the celebratory response to Thompson’s slaying Wednesday in New York City, released images of the suspect allegedly responsible ignited a fanbase that put the “shallowness of the American people” on display, according to CNN political commentator Kate Bedingfield.
The former Biden administration White House communications director asserted as much after “CNN This Morning” host Kasie Hunt aired some of the tamer responses to the arrest of Luigi Mangione Monday at an Altoona, Pennsylvania McDonald’s.
“Menendez brothers, move over! Luigi is about to take the girls by storm!” exclaimed one woman as another fawned over a shirtless image of the suspect and said, “Look at the photos they used when this man got picked up. Not the 14-pack! He’s [gym, tan, laundry]!”
While fellow panelists addressed the impact the Internet and media had on potentially “lionizing” alleged or even convicted criminals and tried to draw a comparison between the reaction to Mangione to that of support for the acquittal of U.S. Marine Corps veteran Daniel Penny, Bedingfield focused on what was revealed of the current culture.
“There’s also just the — the reaction online is also just such a reinforcement of how much esthetics, attractiveness — I mean, like the shallowness of the American people — the American people who are online we’ll say — is very much on display here,” she said. “Part of — yes, there’s absolutely a bubbling anger about the inequity in the country writ large and in the health care system. No question. But so much of, you know, the clips we were watching at the top of this segment are driven by the fact that this is — this is an attractive person.”
“You know, we got to drop the banner to show why,” said Hunt as an image of Mangione was displayed with his abdomen blocked.
Producers quickly complied as the words were removed to show more skin of the suspect while Bedingfield opined, “And it is deeply troubling that we are celebrating this person who’s committed cold-blooded murder because, you know, he clearly went to the gym.”
Coverage of the hybristophiliacs, individuals with an attraction to criminals, revealed that many believed the alleged murderer was too “sexy” for jail and maintained their belief that he’d done nothing wrong, further reinforcing the need for a trial by jury rather than the court of public opinion.
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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