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Most Americans, regardless of their views on the American healthcare system, were horrified at the murder in cold blood of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson earlier this month. Those same Americans continue to be horrified at the reaction of the left to the man charged with the heinous crime, Luigi Mangione. We’re used to outlandish reactions from leftists, but when left-leaning commentators appear to explain away the reaction of many leftists who somehow justify Thompson’s murder, it is just another indication that America could be headed to a dark place.

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A panel discussion on “Fox News Sunday” may have provided one of those examples. The exchange in question was between Fox News contributors Guy Benson (also an editor at our sister site, Townhall) and Juan Williams. Benson began by re-humanizing Thompson, a husband and father of two children, saying, 

“It’s appalling; he’s not a hero in any way. He took a man’s life. His name is Brian Thompson, that man. He has two children, who are very much of social media age, so they are seeing this glorification of the man, the evidence suggests, murdered their dad by shooting him in the back in this cowardly fashion in cold blood.” 

READ MORE: MSNBC Host’s Attempt to Analogize Celebration of CEO Murder to Penny Acquittal Goes All Kinds of Wrong

Benson continued and theorized that the same people who are celebrating Mangione’s actions are also the same people who justify the actions of Hamas.

“…unfortunately, there are a lot of similarities there, and it goes to some sort of moral and cultural rot….but obviously, there’s something really wrong and broken if you have nearly half of young people saying cold-blooded murder is acceptable.” 

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Benson was referring to the disturbing results of a recent poll that showed that 41 percent, nearly half, of young people aged 18-29 found Mangione’s actions acceptable. That should be enough to shake the conscience of anyone, conservative or liberal. But not Fox News contributor Juan Williams. Williams responded to Benson, saying he wanted to “push back” a little with this gem. Push back?

“I think Americans of a certain age, that Gen Z cohort that we’re talking about are people who have lived through a lot of failure of big institutions in this country…you know, banks too big to fail, and then we bail out the banks, but we don’t bail out the little guy…You think about not only the banks but the insurance companies and the health insurance; there are a lot of people who think, you know, these health insurance companies, they look out for themselves and their profits, they don’t look out for my health or my family’s health. So you can say murder is absolutely wrong, and I totally agree with you there, that was a cowardly act, but you can also say we have a problem with profits over people and talk about it honestly.”

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It was all too much for Benson, and he called Williams out on his “yeah, but.” Williams agreed with Benson on the poll results, saying he thought those polled were “wrong,” and in fairness, brought up the obvious question: is Mangione getting support from young people because they are disgusted and fed up with the healthcare system, or because they think Mangione is good looking?  

The unsettling, to say the least, answer to that question might be found in a recent “Saturday Night Live” “Weekend Update” skit, where cast member Colin Jost introduces the story merely by saying Mangione’s name. Female screams erupted from the audience. And if they really do think “some” murder is okay, where is it coming from? A good guess might be a toxic combo of lack of moral guidance at home, a failing education system, and the cherry on top of it all, social media.

Juan Williams did not condone the murder of Brian Thompson. But with what he identifies as the problem, it is not surprising that the left is choosing the darkest among us as their heroes. 

ALSO READ: ‘What Did That Accomplish?’: Charlamagne tha God Blasts Celebration of UnitedHealthcare CEO’s Murder

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