Young Voters More Likely to Support CEO Murder Suspect: Poll
Forty-one percent of voters under 30 find the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brain Thompson acceptable, a new poll found.
While an overall 68 percent of voters found the actions of Thompson’s killer unacceptable, young voters and Democrats broke away from the majority, according to Emerson College Polling.
Twenty-two percent of Democrats said the killing was acceptable, compared to 12 percent of Republicans and 16 percent of Independents.
Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said the data underscores “shifting societal attitudes among the youngest electorate and within party lines.”
Forty percent of voters under 30 found the killing unacceptable, a one point difference from those who find it acceptable. This nearly-even split is a marked difference from every other age demographic, where an overwhelming majority find the killing unacceptable.
Thompson’s suspected assassin, 26-year-old Ivy League grad Luigi Mangione, was arrested in Pennsylvania on Dec. 9 with an alleged manifesto calling healthcare companies “parasites.” The killing has sparked a national conversation about the flaws in the American healthcare system.
A legal defense fund for Mangione has already raised $120,000, though his attorneys said they wouldn’t accept the money.
The survey was conducted from Dec. 11 to Dec. 13 with 1,000 registered voters, and has a margin of error of three points.
