Joe Rogan suggested very few will mourn UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson after suspected assassin Luigi Mangione was apprehended for the murder.
Mangione, 26, was taken into custody on firearm charges Monday afternoon at the fast food joint in Altoona, Pennsylvania, five days after he allegedly shot and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Thompson, 50, outside of a Manhattan hotel.
Rogan spoke about the shooting on Tuesday’s episode of his podcast, which was recorded last week before Mangione had been caught but after a photo of him was released.
Speaking to filmmaker Quentin Tarantino and producer Roger Avary, Rogan had little sympathy for Thompson.
After Avary suggested that he doesn’t ‘think anybody’s going to be crying too hard over that guy’ Rogan replied that his family would, ‘but that’s about it.’
Rogan – who endorsed Donald Trump in 2024 but picked Bernie Sanders in 2020 – said Thompson would not be remembered fondly because of his participation in what he calls the ‘gross’ insurance business.
‘It’s a dirty, dirty business. The business of insurance is f***ing gross,’ he said.
With Mangione yet to be arrested, Rogan posited the reasoning for Mangione’s actions.
‘I don’t think this guy was a professional,’ Rogan said. ‘I think this guy, if I had to guess, [is] some guy [who] got f***** over. Apparently, that company is really bad at denying claims.’
It has since been claimed that Mangione had a manifesto against UnitedHealthcare after suffering a debilitating back injury which required painful spinal surgery.
At a press conference, the NYPD’s chief of detectives Joseph Kenny said Mangione had a three-page, handwritten document that shows ‘ill will toward corporate America.’
A law enforcement official who wasn’t authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity said the document included a line in which Mangione claimed to have acted alone.
‘To the Feds, I’ll keep this short, because I do respect what you do for our country. To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn’t working with anyone,’ the document said, according to the official.
It also had a line that said, ‘I do apologize for any strife or traumas but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming.’
He made his first court appearance after being charged with murder on Tuesday – pouting as he was escorted out of the hearing, after suffering a ferocious public meltdown hours earlier.
The orange jumpsuit-clad suspect had to be restrained as he screamed at police while heading into court in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona on Monday.
Thomas Dickey, Mangione’s lawyer, said on Tuesday night that his client will also plead not guilty to the gun possession charges he is facing in Pennsylvania.
The wealthy CEO was in the Big Apple to host UnitedHealthcare’s annual investor meeting, where he was set to detail the insurance company’s massive profits for the year.
Surveillance camera footage showed him walking outside a Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan when he was shot at point-blank range by three bullets.
The shell casings were later found to have the words ‘deny,’ ‘defend’, ‘depose’ written on them, in an apparent attack on health insurance practices.
It is believed Mangione was angry at the way the medical insurance industry treated a sick relative, according to the New York Post.
Further details on that relative or their identity have not been shared, although online obituaries show Mangione lost a grandmother in 2013 and a grandfather in 2017.
His X account also shows an x-ray of a complicated neck surgery.
The former valedictorian was also in possession of a 3D-printed pistol and black silencer, with police noting that the pistol was loaded with one Glock magazine comprising six 9mm full-metal jacket rounds.
One loose 9mm hollow-point round was also located.
Officers from Altoona Police Department remained stationed inside the restaurant Monday night, as surveillance footage showed the moment Mangione was arrested.
Authorities later confirmed that Mangione alighted a Greyhound bus opposite the McDonald’s at around 9am on Monday morning, after leading NYPD cops on a cross-country chase.
Staff at nearby restaurants say they were unaware that the killer had been apprehended just yards from their doors, simply recalling that local police cars had been in the vicinity.
Officers now believe Mangione had been in Pennsylvania for several days following Thompson’s December 4 murder, and may have previously spent time in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, according to the New York Times.
‘We do have an idea how he got from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, but there are some gaps in time,’ Lt. Col. George Bivens said.
‘And so before we start laying out a timeline of his travel, we really need to work through all of that.’
Mangione is now due back in court for a preliminary hearing on December 23.