In First Poll Released Since Killing, Young Americans Favor Luigi Mangione over UnitedHealthcare & Slain CEO Brian Thompson

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 13, 2024

CONTACT: Jordan Buchman, press@stratpolitics.org

In a sample of 455 U.S. adults, respondents under 45 or with history of denied insurance claims were twice as likely to view the alleged killer favorably

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Young Americans view alleged killer Luigi Mangione far more favorably than UnitedHealthcare and its slain CEO Brian Thompson, according to a newly released poll conducted by the Center for Strategic Politics. 31% of U.S. adults under 45 view alleged killer Luigi Mangione positively, almost twice as many who say the same for UnitedHealthcare (16%) and its slain CEO Brian Thompson (18%). 

Key Findings:

  • Young Americans have a higher net approval of Mangione (-10%) than of Brian Thompson (-24%), UnitedHealthcare (-31%), and the health insurance industry as a whole (-34%), though they view all unfavorably.
  • Young Americans were nearly four times as likely (31%) to view alleged killer Luigi Mangione favorably as Americans over 45 (8%).
  • Those who have been denied care by their health insurance provider were over three times more likely (33%) to view Mangione favorably than those who have not (9%).
  • Trump voters (18%) and Harris voters (21%) were similarly likely to view Mangione favorably, but Trump voters were significantly more likely to view him unfavorably (71%). Liberals (25%) were most likely to view him favorably and conservatives (14%) were least likely to.
  • Men were over twice as likely (17%) as women (7%) to believe the killing of Thompson was justifiable.
  • White Americans view Mangione by far the least favorably, with only 14% having a positive opinion of him, compared to 28% of Hispanic Americans and 31% of Black Americans.

Methodology:

On December 11, 2024, the Center for Strategic Politics conducted an English-language survey of 455 adults from the United States using random device engagement through Pollfish. The sample was weighted to be representative of the general adult population in respect to age and gender. The margin of error is ±4.6%.

Crosstabs:

All crosstabs for this survey are available here

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