CNN Anchor Says ‘Drop The Banner’ To Show Why CEO Murder Suspect Luigi Mangione Has Sex-Fueled Fandom In Weird Moment

Things got surreal when CNN anchor Kasie Hunt made a remark about needing to remove an onscreen graphic to “show why” murder suspect Luigi Mangione has developed a sex-fueled online fandom — and the control room complied.

Mangione was arrested Monday for the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in a story that keeps getting stranger and more chilling. The killing was shocking in its cold-blooded precision, and was followed by the tandem developments of a frantic manhunt, a ghoulish celebration of the crime by angry masses of health insurance industry critics, and a lustful following fawning over surveillance stills.

On Tuesday’s edition of CNN This Morning, a segment on the killing opened with some social media videos that included examples of the latter:

VIDEO CLIP: Menendez brothers. Move over! Luigi is about to take the girls by storm!

VIDEO CLIP: Look at the photos they used when this man got picked up! Not the 14-pack! He’s GTL!

KASIE HUNT: The man accused of killing UnitedHealthCare’s CEO going viral. Images of Luigi Mangione seem to captivate the attention of online masses. The Manhattan killing also uncovering a deep dissatisfaction with the United States health care industry.

Hunt and her panel discussed the phenomenon, and as CNN analyst Kate Bedingfield talked about the disturbing attraction, social media photos of Mangione were displayed.

Hunt remarked that “You’d have to drop the banner to see why,” referencing a graphic that was covering Mangione’s abs — and the control room took the quip as an instruction.

Bedingfield sarcastically noted, “it is deeply troubling that we are celebrating this person who’s committed cold-blooded murder because, you know, he clearly went to the gym”:

KATE BEDINGFIELD: There’s also just the– the reaction online is also just such a reinforcement of how much esthetics, attractiveness–. I mean, like the shallowness of the American people — The American people who are online will say is very much on display here.

Part of–. Yes, there’s absolutely a bubbling anger about the inequity in the country writ large and in the health care system. No question.

But so much of, you know, the clips we were watching at the top of this segment are driven by the fact that this is this is an attractive.

KASIE HUNT: You know, we got to drop the banner to show why.

KATE BEDINGFIELD: And and it’s true it is deeply troubling that we are celebrating this this person who’s committed cold-blooded murder because, you know, he clearly went to the gym.

Watch above via CNN This Morning.