'Chilling': Columnist sounds alarm at 'public bloodlust for destruction and retribution'

A Washington Post columnist on Friday evening called the public's reaction to the assassination of a health insurance CEO "chilling" — and decried what she called "public bloodlust for destruction and retribution."

Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old Ivy League graduate, has been charged with murder in the brazen slaying of Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare who was gunned down last week outside a Manhattan hotel. Mangione was arrested at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, following a massive five-day manhunt.

Columnist Catherine Rampell noted in her column that Mangione has been compared to Robin Hood, held up by some as an almost "folk hero" figure, and even called by man a "hottie."

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That reaction, she said, has been "chilling" — and has come from both "online hordes" and "supposedly serious public figures, including at least two federal lawmakers."

"This is an escalation of an existing political trend: public bloodlust for destruction and retribution," she argued. "Americans are rejecting leaders who propose solutions for their problems in favor of antiheroes who want to burn everything down — figuratively or literally."

Americans are furious at both the state of health care and corporations in general — much of which, she said is understandable, particularly given how expensive health care is in this country and how far it goes in terms of health outcomes.

She blasted politicians on both sides for ditching substantive policy proposals with what she called "rage-baiting political rhetoric," which convinces people, "The system is rigged against you, populists preach, so forget trying to fix that system. Instead, let’s blow it all up and punish whoever rigged it in the first place."

Rampell added that "bean-counting, green-visored policymaking is boring and tedious. It’s faster — and definitely more cathartic — to submit to that primal urge for vengeance."

She said she fears Mangione's alleged violence could become more common — and it won't solve the root issue.

"It’s easier to break something than to build it," she said. "But to solve a problem, something eventually needs to be built. That part is boring, hard and, lately, not well-appreciated by the public."