Politics
NEW: CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Shares Legal Defense Fund For CEO Killer
CNN anchor and White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins is under fire for sharing a legal defense fund for Luigi Mangione, who is accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson back in December.
In an X post, Collins shared a link to a defense fund set up by attorneys for Mangione, who is facing charges of first-degree murder in furtherance of an act of terrorism, stalking and other state and federal charges in New York and Pennsylvania for allegedly killing Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel on December 4, 2024.
The link contained a “Valentines Day Message” from Mangione, who thanked people for their “support” and suggested that he was leading a movement. In the days following the arrest of Mangione — who was born into a wealthy family in Maryland — supporters donated more than $300,000 to his legal defense.
Collins soon deleted the post after intense backlash. “Real bottom of the barrel stuff. Even for @kaitlancollins,” The Spectator contributing editor Stephen Miller wrote in an X post of his own. Miller also criticized Collins for deleting the post with “no explanation,” adding, “guess it wasn’t White House correspondent related.”
In a statement to AL.com, CNN defended Collins and claimed she was not looking to amplify Mangione’s message .“This is a deceptive story without any merit that was written in bad faith,” CNN told the outlet on Sunday. “This was nothing more than a social post reporting news surrounding the trial.”
Collins also weighed in on the deletion in a follow-up post, saying: “I posted that his attorneys created a website, which is newsworthy and other outlets have also reported on. In no way did I share a fundraising link for him.”
That response is not holding up with conservative political commentators, however, many of whom have asked why Collins deleted the post if she was simply reporting on a news story. “Security risk (understatement). Credentials must be pulled immediately,” said conservative journalist and activist Mike Cernovich.
Mangione has developed a cult following of radical leftists who seek to use him as a vehicle for political violence against their political opponents. Noted Luigi Mangione fan Bill Burr — an enthusiastic supporter of the COVID-19 lockdowns and subsequent wealth transfers to big business and pharmaceutical companies — recently called for billionaires to be “put down like rabid dogs.”
The accused killer has also become a hero for left-wing educators and college professors. A professor at the University of Pennsylvania reportedly described Luigi Mangione, the suspected killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, as an “icon” in a now-deleted social media post.
Julia Alekseyeva, an assistant professor of English and Cinema & Media Studies at the Ivy League school and self-described “socialist,” posted a video to TikTok of her smiling as the song “Do You Hear the People Sing?” from the musical “Les Misérables” played, according to a report from the New York Post. Alekseyeva, who goes by “The Soviette” on social media, deleted the post after backlash.
