Sen. Rick Scott wants Luigi Mangione to receive the death penalty for allegedly shooting and killing United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
The Republican Senator from Florida calls for the extreme action In a clip exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com.
The reaction to Thompson’s death was extremely polarizing among the political community, with liberals saying it points to Americans’ unhappiness with U.S. healthcare and conservatives calling the murder an injustice against the system.
Scott, a former healthcare industry executive, said while Mangione, 26, has not been convicted of Thompson’s murder, he does believe the death penalty would be justified if he is found guilty.
He said it’s obvious that death should be the punishment due to the ‘cold-blooded’ nature of the murder and the obvious ‘vendetta’ held against the CEO.
‘Luigi Mangioni, in the beginning of December like you know, allegedly shot and killed United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan early morning,’ Gabe Groisman said to Scott during an interview on an upcoming episode of his podcast Standpoint.
‘It was the way he was executed, it seemed obvious at that moment that the world would condemn him.’
‘There’s been a big push at least in social media and the sort of younger generation trying to almost defend or excuse Mangioni because of the problems that he sees in the healthcare industry and the insurance industry, in particular,’ Groisman noted.
‘With your background in healthcare, what’s your reaction to what happened there?’ he asked.
The senator replied: ‘There’s groups that you know believe in violence now as a way to get the change they want and you know you just have to condemn it and hold these people accountable for bad acts.’
‘Do you think, from what you know, he deserves the death penalty for his actions?’ Groisman pressed.
‘I mean he’s not been convicted yet, but it sure looks like it was just absolutely in cold blood and he just had a vendetta against him so at least that’s what- what you read,’ Scott said.
‘So if that’s what happened, I mean clearly, you know [the death penalty] is clearly justified.’
He concluded: ‘If somebody doesn’t like the way the healthcare system is being delivered then get in the middle of it and change it – so that’s the right way of doing it.’
The Florida senator co-founded Columbia Hospital Corporation, which later merged with another group to form Columbia/HCA. It became the nation’s largest for-profit healthcare company.
HCA – Hospital Corporation of America – remains the No. 1 largest hospital system in the U.S. by revenue.
UnitedHealthcare, meanwhile, is the largest health insurance company in the U.S.
Mangione allegedly shot and killed Thompson on the street in midtown Manhattan in early December, leading to a city-wide and then nationwide manhunt.
He was apprehended days after the shooting at a McDonalds in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
The hand gun recovered from Mangione was made up of partially 3D-printed parts.
But it also donned metal components including the top slide of the gun and the barrel, which appeared to be threaded to allow for a suppressor or silencer to be attached to the forearm.