Americans on ‘new TikTook’ spot Chinese obsession with alleged CEO killer Luigi Mangione
‘Lulu’ Luigi Mangione, who is accused of killing healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, ‘conforms to the values of the Chinese people’ a RedNote user said in explanation why the nation is obsessed with him
Americans defecting from TikTok to a new social media platform have noticed China’s obsession with the accused killer of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Thompson was fatally attacked on December 4, 2024 while walking to the Hilton in New York City. Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old from a prominent Maryland family, has pleaded not guilty to the charge of first degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder.
And now, the ex-Ivy league graduate, who shot to notoriety and internet stardom on his arrest,has garnered fans from afar, as recent adopters of RedNote, also known as Xiaohonshu and China’s answer to Instagram, have discovered.
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The Chinese are so infatuated with Mangione, they’ve even given him an affectionate nickname, dubbing the alleged serial killer “Lulu”, Daily Dot reports. Many TikTok users jumped ship to RedNote, which basically does the same thing but with only 300million users instead of over a billion, as the US government considers banning the former platform.
In an unexpected revelation, new RedNote adopters have discovered that the app is rife with posts that praise and glorify Mangione. Users have commented that pro-Mangione posts are some of the first posts they see, before the algorithm does its thing.
One person asked RedNote users why they were so obsessed with Mangione, and discovered that the young man is thought of as a champion of the people fighting agains an oppressive system.
One user answered: “Because I think that speaking for the people can always touch the hearts of people from all over the world.”
“We all face more or less similar situations and experiences, and we all share the same hatred for the unlimited expansion and exploitation of capital,” another wrote.
A third commented: “Luigi is such a representative who conforms to the values of the Chinese people. He originally had wealth and status and could enjoy everything with peace of mind, but he still chose to stand on the side of the people.”
