https://www.thedailybeast.com/sweaty-peter-thiel-mocked-for-incoherent-answer-about-ceo-slaying/Billionaire investor Peter Thiel is being mocked online for his stuttering, disjointed response to an interview question about the public reaction to the slaying of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
The murder has stoked discussion about the health insurance industry, with a significant amount of people expressing support for the alleged assassin, Luigi Mangione, and condemnation toward Thompson and other executives.
In the Thursday episode of his show, pundit Piers Morgan asked Thiel what he would say to people who view Mangione as a “hero” for targeting the healthcare system over its denial of coverage.
Thiel, drenched in sweat, struggled to form a coherent response, pausing for over 10 seconds before beginning to speak. And when he finally did respond, the PayPal co-founder stuttered, stopped, and started over several times before uttering a complete sentence.
“I still think you should try to make an argument, and I think this is—there may be things wrong with our healthcare system, but you have to make an argument, and you have to try to find a way to convince people and change it by that,” Thiel eventually said.
Building on this start, Thiel managed to make his stance somewhat more firm—if still vague.
“I don’t want to go into all the particulars here, but I don’t think there’s anything heroic about him,” he added.
The TV flub was posted to X by user @jimstewartson, who wrote, “If someone can find a worse answer to any question, I’d love to see it. This is excruciating.”
Commenters who responded to the post were even more brutal in their derision.
User @codeslubber remarked that Thiel demonstrated “extemporaneous rhetoric skills below those of a toddler.“
Others suggested his wealth had something to do with his discomfort answering the straightforward question.
