Crooked Media - What A Day: Luigi... or Waluigi?

BY MATT BERG
& CROOKED MEDIA

TUESDAY
DECEMBER 10, 2024

I’ve spent 35 years in the education business.”

— MAGA Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who was counting his time as a college football coach.

KILLER MERCH?

Social media users continue to rally behind the alleged CEO shooter, whether it's because they think he’s morally righteous or just, um, hot. But don’t buy the hype, tech and culture experts tell What A Day. It’s not the same as support in real life.

It’s impossible to Log On today without seeing an outpouring of support and adoration for Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old Ivy League grad accused of murdering a UnitedHealthcare executive in Manhattan last week. With each day, his internet folk hero status seems to grow. People are writing songs about him. Somebody got a tattoo of his face on their leg. People are buying merch inspired by the shooting. And, yes, even “fan cam” compilations about his attractiveness are going viral. “How to get glowy skin like this? Any tips?” a popular Reddit post asked, showing a picture of Mangione smiling.

The outburst of shooter-fandom has been widely attributed to pent-up resentment over the health insurance industry’s reputation for coverage denial and terrible treatment. Polls say most Americans are frustrated by the health care industry, to put it mildly. But the general public probably doesn’t really worship this guy, Marcel O'Gorman, a professor at University of Waterloo, told What A Day.

“Does the public in general think Mangione is a hero? Probably not,” O’Gorman said. “However, he is a perfect hero for social media — he’s mysterious, rebellious, smart, and most importantly, a game developer with a hot bod. He ticks all the boxes from Reddit to TikTok.”

There’s a disparity in real-life reactions vs. those online, due to the very nature of social media, said Irina Raicu, Internet Ethics program director at Santa Clara University. “The difference is not the anonymity, but the way in which the screen distances us from the other humans we're communicating with,” Raicu told What A Day.

Still, there are so many people online raving about this dude that cops are getting nervous about copy-cat criminals.

Mangione “likely views himself as a hero of sorts” who acted upon perceived injustices, an internal police report concluded. (That would check out with his manifesto, in which he reportedly wrote that “I do apologize for any strife or traumas but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming.”)

Data shared exclusively with What A Day shows the widespread support on X for the alleged shooter. Within the past 24 hours, there have been more than 880,000 posts mentioning his name, according to analytics company PeakMetrics. Some 52,000 of those mention his Italian heritage (and comparisons to the famous video game character of the same name — and his evil clone, Waluigi), while more than 17,000 referred to him as “hot.” Only 4,000 posts refer to him as “not a hero,” a phrase used by Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA). Again, it’s worth noting that X users are an infinitesimal, arguably way-too-online fraction of the population.

While Mangione sits in a Manhattan cell on second-degree murder, forgery and gun charges, more details about his life continue to spill out. He recently lived in Hawaii in a community focused on self-improvement, and comes from a prominent family from Maryland. He expressed support for brain-worm survivor Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has taken a skeptical stance on the health care establishment, during his run for president, and didn’t like President Joe Biden or President-elect Donald Trump. He was apprehended while eating a McDonald’s hashbrown. (Google removed negative reviews of the fast food location that flooded in after he was caught.)

“The real irony here is that he is a terrible hero for any sort of ‘eat the rich’ movement: an Ivy League frat boy graduate with deep country club ties,” O’Gorman said. “Well, maybe that does make him more interesting.”

Mangione also played “Among Us,” a popular animated video game in which a secret assassin tries to cartoonishly kill others. My family and I play it every holiday, which explains this text from my dad this morning: “You’re all suspects now.”

PLUS ONE

If you’re the kind of person who dreams of visiting every country on Earth, heads up: The list is probably about to get a little bit longer.

President-elect Donald Trump is poised to recognize Somaliland, a self-governing breakaway region in Somalia that borders Djibouti and Ethiopia, as its own country, Semafor reports. Support for the move has grown among conservative politicians and right-leaning think tanks, which have the power to influence this kind of thing.

Why would Trump care about a tiny strip of land in the Horn of Africa, unless there’s room for a Trump Hotel there?

In this case, the answer is: geopolitical intrigue. Recognition would let the U.S. set up long-term intelligence networks there, allowing the Trump team to monitor stuff happening on the continent. China and Russia have expanded their influence in Africa, worrying the United States. Building a network there would also help with tracking weapons shipments and keeping an eye on Houthi rebels in Yemen.

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WHAT ELSE?

The Department of Justice under the first Trump administration sought journalists' phone and email records as it investigated leaks to the press, a DOJ watchdog found. It’s not our fault everyone in your administration hated you!

MAGA firebreather Matt Gaetz will join One America News as an anchor. The new gig at the conservative conspiracy-peddling outlet continues Gaetz’s fall from grace, coming shortly after his short-lived bid for attorney general and resignation from Congress. We’d still like to see that ethics report.

Donald Trump spoke with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) about choosing Lara Trump, who is married to Trump’s son Eric, as the Senate replacement for Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who’s expected to be confirmed as secretary of state, the Wall Street Journal reports. Lara recently stepped down as the chair of the Republican National Committee. Nepotism at its finest.

Trump trolled Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after he threatened the U.S. with retaliatory tariffs. “It was a pleasure to have dinner the other night with Governor Justin Trudeau of the Great State of Canada,” Trump wrote on Truth Social just after midnight, apparently referring to his running-joke about making Canada a part of the United States (at least… I think it’s a joke?).

Crooked’s own Jon Favreau wrote a piece in The Atlantic titled “The Conversation Democrats Need to Have,” and it’s worth your time. And I’m not just saying that because the guy’s my boss!

Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) got caught posting a fake Spotify Wrapped in which all his top songs were from rock legend Bruce Springsteen. When called out, Gottheimer tried to play it down: “While it’s Springsteen all day for me — don’t get me wrong, I still love listening to Taylor Swift!” Risky move if you’re running for NJ governor...

Lovett just announced new Lovett or Leave It LA dates for spring 2025! Join him every Thursday starting January 9th! He'll be sifting through the week’s most important and absurd news stories, skewering the biggest names in politics, and sitting down with a special celebrity guest for a one-on-one conversation you won’t want to miss. They have some big names for the first few shows, including Joel McHale and Rachel Bloom. Hear the best punchlines and political conversation live, days before everybody else. Head to crooked.com/events to see dates and grab tickets. See you there!

Gas prices are currently the lowest they’ve been since 2021, averaging $2.98 per gallon. That’s a good sign that inflation is behind us, or as Axios put it, in the rear-view mirror.

The Los Angeles City Council today approved guidelines of how to spend its “mansion tax,” which collected $480 million over the past year by putting taxes on the sales of expensive properties. It includes creating affordable housing, as well as providing income support for senior citizens and rental assistance to those in need. Can we do this everywhere?