Politico cited Bondi’s decision to seek the death penalty for Mangione as one way ‘Trump loses Gen Z.’
Welcome back to Forgotten Fact Checks. This week, we look at the strange reaction to the Trump administration’s announcement that it would seek the death penalty against the alleged United Healthcare CEO killer and cover more media misses.
Is Luigi Mangione Really ‘How Trump Loses Gen Z’?
Since his arrest in December, Luigi Mangione has received a warmer media reception than one would expect of a man who allegedly murdered a father of two on the streets of NYC.
Now that Attorney General Pam Bondi has ordered federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Mangione, the misanthropic left-wingers who made the wealthy Ivy League grad into a folk hero are starting to show themselves.
Politico Playbook shared the news that the DOJ would seek the death penalty as one of its “7 things you need to know” under a headline that read: “How Trump loses Gen Z.”
And Politico was not alone in suggesting that harshly prosecuting a suspected cold-blooded killer might have negative political ramifications for the GOP.
The View co-host Joy Behar suggested there could be “backlash” against Republicans over the DOJ seeking the death penalty in the case.
“He’s very popular, this guy, there could be a backlash,” she said. “All I’m saying is, politically, it could be a backlash against Republicans to give him the death penalty.”
Mangione is undoubtedly popular among a far-left segment of the Gen Z population – his legal defense fund has raised more than $835,000, and he has had to ask his supporters to send fewer photos to him while he is in Brooklyn federal jail because he was unable to keep up with the amount of mail he was receiving.
He was also sent a pair of socks with two heart-shaped notes hidden inside that read, “Know there are thousands of people wishing you luck.”
But ostensibly voters supporting Trump, who made prolific gains with Gen Z during the November election, understand they’re voting for a law-and-order candidate.
And while a good portion of Gen Z respondents said they sympathize more with Mangione than with victim Brian Thompson in a January poll (45 percent) – another 17 percent chose Thompson and 37 percent said neither.
Mangione allegedly committed the murder because of his hatred of “parasitic” health care companies, as described in his manifesto that was discovered upon his arrest. His resentment for the health insurance industry was likely exacerbated by a debilitating back injury, though Mangione likely never received a bill he couldn’t pay, given that he comes from a Maryland family whose net worth ranges into nine figures.
The 26-year-old is accused of killing Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel in early December before fleeing to central Pennsylvania, where he was arrested five days later.
He is facing three separate trials: one in New York for first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism, a second for federal charges involving murder by firearm, and a third in Pennsylvania for illegal gun possession, among other charges.
AG Bondi paints a clear picture of the situation’s realities.
“Luigi Mangione’s murder of Brian Thompson — an innocent man and father of two young children — was a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America,” Bondi announced. “After careful consideration, I have directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in this case as we carry out President Trump’s agenda to stop violent crime and Make America Safe Again.”
“Mangione’s actions involved substantial planning and premeditation and because the murder took place in public with bystanders nearby, may have posed grave risk of death to additional persons,” the DOJ said.
Headline Fail of the Week
The Washington Post reports “Republicans, independents crave answers from GOP congressman in Alabama.”
But Fox News noticed one problem with the headline on the story about an Alabama protest against the Department of Government Efficiency: Several protesters featured in the story were Democratic donors “who have espoused left-wing and anti-Trump views on social media.”
“Despite framing the story as amplifying criticism from Republicans and Independents, every protester quoted in the story with a first and last name has donated to Democrats, which the article does not point out. Additionally, the article omits that several Democrat donors were included in the article’s pictures,” Fox reports.
Media Misses
• Feminist writer Jessica Valenti lamented the fact that it “has been two weeks since a Georgia woman was arrested for her miscarriage, and not one major national outlet has covered the story.” But she was quickly met with a community notes fact check on X: “The woman was charged with improperly disposing of the dead baby’s remains. Having a miscarriage is not a criminal offense in Georgia.“
• Teen Vogue tells readers that President Trump’s policies preventing gender transition treatments for minors are putting transgender youth at risk of death. “I don’t want to mince words here: stripping trans youth of their gender affirming care is a death sentence,” Angelica Christina Torres, board director of the official nonprofit of The Stonewall Inn, the Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative, was quoted as saying in a recent article.
• International Fact-Checking Network Director Angie Drobnic Holan says fact-checkers are facing political pressure while performing their “honorable” and “patriotic” work, in part because of Meta’s recent decision to end its partnership with third-party fact-checkers.
“Not everyone loves fact-checking, and there are powerful political forces that would simply like it to go away,” Holan wrote for Poynter. “This is indeed a crisis for fact-checkers, but it’s even worse for the general public. Disinformation hurts people. It has real-world consequences.”
“Fact-checking holds the line on reality for history’s sake. It builds evidence-based records that can withstand political pressures,” she wrote. “Politicians who want to create their own realities are fighting hard against fact-checking, and they’re strong-arming tech companies and social media platforms into helping them.”