Tech billionaire Peter Thiel is blasted for giving ‘worst response EVER’ after healthcare CEO shooting

Tech billionaire Peter Thiel left viewers stunned when he gave an incoherent, stuttering response to a question about the public’s reaction to the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Luigi Mangione, 26, was taken into custody Monday afternoon on gun charges at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, five days after he allegedly shot and killed Thompson, 50, outside a Manhattan hotel.

The public response has shown a surprising amount of sympathy for Mangione and anger toward Thompson and the health care industry, especially leftists like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

The PayPal co-founder, 57, appeared on Piers Morgan Uncensored on Thursday and was asked what he thought of those who are furious with people like Thompson because they believe the US healthcare system is unfair.

He seemed sweaty and stammered through his response, “Uh… it’s… uh… I don’t know what to say.”

Thiel ultimately said, “I still think you have to try to argue and I think this… there may be things wrong with our health care system, but you have to make an argument and you have to try to find a way to convince people and thereby change it.

‘This isn’t going to work. Don’t know. You could say all kinds of things about it, but I don’t think… again, I think the motifs feel… I don’t want to go into all the specifics here, but I don’t think there’s anything heroic about it. him,” he added.

Reactions to the billionaire’s response online were brutal, with one person – who called Thiel ‘Antichrist’ – calling it the worst response you could possibly give.

“If anyone can find a worse answer to a question, I’d love to see it. This is unbearable.’

‘This is AMAZING. There are toddlers who can string sentences together better than this,” wrote another.

Someone else commented, “People who don’t have billions think that having billions makes you smart or insightful. That’s not true.’

Others pointed out his clearly distressed face in the video, with one asking: “Why is he sweating so much?”

“Peter stuttered through it for three minutes, frozen, but unable to say, ‘Murder is wrong.’ They should abolish that at the CEO school.’

Earlier, Thiel was able to make a somewhat stronger statement about Mangione’s murder of Thompson.

“I don’t think you should ever glorify murder, and man, it probably just tells us more about how crazy some of these people are saying these things… I don’t think it tells us much about this case, but it tells us that we are in a very crazy society.’

Earlier today, “squad” Democrat Ocasio-Cortez echoed much of the left’s reaction to the killing.

The New York Democrat argued that Americans “feel and experience denied claims as an act of violence against them,” as she spoke to CBS News about the response — and sometimes praise — for accused assassin Luigi Mangione.

“I think this collective American experience, which is so distorted in the richest country in the world, all that pain that people have experienced is focused on this,” she told Jaala Brown on the steps of Congress.

‘And it is very important that we take a step back.

“This is not a commentary and this is not to say that an act of violence is justified, but I think anyone who is confused, shocked or horrified needs to understand that people interpret, feel and experience denied claims. as an act of violence against them.

“People become homeless because of the financial devastation of an unanswered diagnosis or the amount they have to pay in a surprise bill and things like that.

“When we talk in this passive way about how the systems are violent in this country, our privatized health care system is the same for a lot of Americans,” Ocasio-Cortez continued, noting that she didn’t have health insurance until she was elected to Congress .

Her comments came as Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts was forced to retract her comments on the shooting.

These reactions come as the twists and turns that led to Mangione’s arrest continue to astound the nation.

Police in San Francisco had apparently recognized Mangione as the accused killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson days before he was arrested in Pennsylvania.

An officer from the police Special Victims Unit was sifting through surveillance footage the New York Police Department released of the suspected killer and recognized him as Mangione on December 5 – just one day after the shooting, police sources say told the San Francisco Chronicle.

The officer had been investigating Mangione’s disappearance since his mother, Kathleen, reported him missing in mid-November.

She claimed she had not spoken to her son since July 1 and noted that he worked for San Francisco-based TrueCar, an online car marketplace – apparently not realizing he had been fired in 2023.

Upon recognizing the suspect, the suspect reportedly called the FBI and provided the agency with Mangione’s name, despite law enforcement officials later saying the 26-year-old was not on their radar until his arrest in Pennsylvania on Monday.

He was taken into custody that day on gun charges after stopping at a McDonald’s in Altoona for a snack and a drink, where a customer also recognized him.

Mangione allegedly had a 3D printed pistol and a black silencer loaded with one Glock magazine containing six 9mm all-metal jacketed bullets that the NYPD said matched those of bullets found at the scene of Thompson’s murder.

The suspect also reportedly had a manifesto outlining his grievances against UnitedHealthcare after a debilitating back injury that required painful spinal surgery.

Mangione appeared in court Tuesday to face the gun charges in Pennsylvania, where he had an intense public meltdown hours earlier.

The suspect, dressed in orange jumpsuit, had to be restrained as he shouted at police as he entered the courtroom.

His attorney, Thomas Dickey, has since claimed that Mangione was simply “agitated” because he had no legal representation at the time.

Dickey has also said his client will plead not guilty to the murder charges in New York and the weapons charges in Pennsylvania – as he continues to fight extradition to the Big Apple.