A segment on MSNBC drawing connections between the UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting suspect and Donald Trump’s potential appointee has sparked widespread criticism across political lines.
Popular host Rachel Maddow, during her weekly appearance on MSNBC, attempted to link Luigi Mangione, the suspect in UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s recent killing, to Trump’s rumored Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Director pick Blake Masters, through their shared interest in the Unabomber’s writings.
“If it is him [Mangione], the fact that he’s a professed Unabomber fan is unsettling. I might mention that it’s even more unsettling that Donald Trump’s reported choice to run the ATF is also a self-professed fan of the Unabomber,” Maddow said during her broadcast.
Masters’ connection to the Unabomber stems from a 2022 interview where he identified Theodore Kaczynski as a “subversive thinker” worth knowing about. “I’ll probably get in trouble for saying this,” Masters said at the time. “How about, like, Theodore Kaczynski?”
Masters explained that while he finds value in studying Kaczynski’s writings and ideas about technology, he explicitly distances himself from and does not support the deadly bombing campaign that Kaczynski carried out. This terror campaign resulted in three deaths and numerous injuries over nearly two decades, spreading fear across the country until authorities finally apprehended Kaczynski in 1996.
Maddow’s comments drew immediate criticism from journalists and social media users across the political spectrum.
Critics labeled Maddow’s analysis as “unhinged” and accused her of attempting to connect unrelated events to Trump.
Left-wing journalist Ken Klippenstein initially brought attention to the segment, responding with derision to Maddow’s attempted connection.
Mangione, 26, was apprehended at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, following surveillance footage that showed him alighting from a Greyhound bus around 9 a.m. Monday, December 9. Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens indicated Mangione may have spent time in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh following the December 4 shooting.
Thompson was shot three times at point-blank range outside the New York Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan, where he was scheduled to host UnitedHealthcare’s annual investor meeting to discuss the company’s yearly profits. Investigators recovered shell casings marked with the words “deny,” “defend,” and “depose.”
When arrested, Mangione possessed a 3D-printed pistol with a black silencer, loaded with six 9mm full-metal jacket rounds in a Glock magazine, plus one loose 9mm hollow-point round. His attorney, Thomas Dickey, stated his client will plead not guilty to both murder and weapons charges in Pennsylvania.
Police recovered a three-page handwritten document from Mangione expressing “ill will toward corporate America,” according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny. The document included a direct message to federal investigators stating he acted alone.
David Kaczynski, brother of Ted Kaczynski (the Unabomber), expressed concern about his brother’s continued influence, stating it would be a “terrible mistake” if the Unabomber’s ideology influenced Mangione.
Sources suggest Mangione’s actions may have been motivated by grievances against the healthcare industry. His social media account contained x-ray images of a complicated neck procedure.
Mangione is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on December 23.