Bill Maher had harsh words for Luigi Mangione and Gen Z, but not before offering sarcastic advice on who should have gone after the CEO of UnitedHealthcare.
The liberal comic had gone out of business in December as Mangione mania spread among mostly young leftists who shockingly declared Brian Thompson's vigilante killer a hero.
Before slamming those who had criticized Mangione, who now faced the death penalty, Maher took aim at those he believed were more responsible for why America's healthcare system is in such a dire state.
“I guess my question is, why do you only shoot the insurance guy?”
He pointed out that profit margins for insurance companies are lower than those for pharmaceutical companies and hospitals, which he provided to the Corleone family from The Godfather.
'Shouldn't we shoot hospital directors first? I mean, it's only a good thing,” he joked.
Maher suggested that the reason people hate insurance companies more than hospitals is because there aren't shows that spotlight them the way Grey's Anatomy does hospitals and doctors.
He then blamed “tech bros” who make hospital websites unusable and the people who make bad food that makes people unhealthy.
Bill Maher had harsh words for Luigi Mangione and Gen Z, but not before offering sarcastic advice on who should have gone after UnitedHealthcare's CEO
The liberal comic had gone out of business in December as Mangione mania spread among mostly young leftists who shockingly declared Brian Thompson's vigilante killer a hero
“Watch out, whoever makes damn Twinkies,” he said to applause.
Maher turned to Generation Z, 41% of whom in a poll approved of Thompson's murder.
He said it “confirms something I wish wasn't true, but unfortunately is about, certainly not all, but too many Gen Zers: they're fucking stupid.”
The comic then blamed Hollywood for making “every movie about someone who's a hit man” before turning to Mangione himself.
“Luigi, I tell you: good luck in prison, where being handsome always makes you popular, and congratulations on being a folk hero,” he joked.
“But just know: you're not Robin Hood, you're not a hero, you're a typical member of your generation, too lazy to do the work to really understand the issue, but you'd like to pose as a fighter for social justice for It.”
Maher compared the young people praising Mangione to people celebrating the wealthy in Los Angeles who lost their homes to the wildfires.
“It's a very popular mentality, summed up in the phrase 'eat the rich,'” Maher explains.
Before slamming those who had criticized Mangione, who now faced the death penalty, Maher took aim at those he believed were more responsible for why America's healthcare system is in such a dire state. “I guess my question is, why do you only shoot the insurance guy?”
Maher turned to Generation Z, 41% of whom in a poll approved of Thompson's murder
“But kids, I've seen your media consumption and I've seen your social media posts, you don't hate the rich, you hate that you're not the rich.”
The first time the accused killer of UnitedHealtcare CEO Brian Thompson will return to Manhattan Criminal Court will be in mid-February, with prosecutors and defense attorneys asking for more time to prepare the case for trial.
The lawyers agreed in a letter to the court that the deadline for filing charges against Mangione could be extended from January 18 to February 17.
Mangione, 26, now faces a criminal complaint, a document filed against individuals before charges are filed.
Prosecutors said they had consulted with the defense and agreed that extending the deadline was necessary “to allow both parties adequate preparation for the preliminary investigation and the trial itself.”
Lawyers for Mangione and federal prosecutors declined to comment.
The case is unusual in that at least one charge carries the possibility of the death penalty, but whether to pursue that penalty would be up to the Justice Department in Washington, where top officials will be changed as President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
Authorities say Mangione fatally shot Thompson on December 4 as he walked to an investor conference in downtown Manhattan.
Mangione, 26, now faces a criminal complaint, a document filed against individuals before charges are filed
The killing shocked the business community and put some critics of health insurance on edge.
Mangione regularly posted online about his struggles with back pain, even though he was never a UnitedHealthcare client.
Federal charges against Mangione include murder and firearms counts. He made his first appearance in the indictment late last month. He doesn't have to enter a plea until charges are filed.
Mangione has been acquitted in a New York court of multiple murders, including murder as an act of terrorism. Prosecutors have said the two cases will proceed in parallel, with the state charges expected to go to trial first. His next appearance in state court is scheduled for Feb. 21.
The maximum penalty for the state charge is life in prison without parole. Mangione was arrested at a McDonald's in Pennsylvania on December 9 after a five-day search.
He is being held in a federal prison in Brooklyn along with several other high-profile suspects, including Sean “Diddy” Combs and cryptocurrency fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried.
