CNN likes to think of itself as a network that knows that there is an objective difference between an apple and a banana, but on Friday, The Source guest host Boris Sanchez chose a bizarre news story to claim the people who think an apple is actually a banana are merely “controversial.” Those people would be supporters of Luigi Mangione, the man who pled guilty in federal court on Friday to stalking resulting in death charges related to the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Introducing a clip of Mangione’s defense attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo, Sanchez, “Mangione, of course, spoke in front of Thompson's emotional family today. The story he told of enduring years of pain after a broken back is part of why he's drawn a controversial wave of public sympathy among some followers, as his story became a focal point for anti-corporate frustration.”
CNN's Boris Sanchez tries portraying Luigi Mangione groupies as merely "controversial," "Mangione, of course, spoke in front of the Thompson's emotional family today. The story he told of enduring years of pain after a broken back is part of why he's drawn a controversial wave of… pic.twitter.com/jnTxkfulTO
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) August 15, 2026
Tax policy is controversial. People who unapologetically assassinate other people and the people who defend them are evil, and it is not complicated.
As it was, Agnifilo was shown in the clip making excuses for her client, “As Luigi explained in court today, he endured years of severe, debilitating pain following a broken back while struggling to navigate our health care and health insurance systems.”
Committed to his newfound respect for journalistic neutrality, Sanchez teed up clips from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jamie McDonald and NYPD police commissioner Jessica Tisch as if they had a simple disagreement with Mangione, “Ever since Mangione's arrest, this case has become a vehicle for people to make a point about health care, corporate power, politics, and more. But today, prosecutors pushed back on that idea, saying this case is about one thing: the law.”
Sanchez’s sudden desire to be journalistic Switzerland when it comes to defending political assassinations is not just morally wrong. It is also downright weird. Sanchez is a man who has previously done segments that try to defend the idea that biological sex is not dichotomous is an objective fact. It is one thing to say that Mangione supporters’ existence is newsworthy, but it is another to claim they are anything other than abhorrent, and Sanchez failed in that distinction.
Here is a transcript for the August 14 show:
CNN The Source with Kaitlan Collins
8/14/2026
9:20 PM ET
BORIS SANCHEZ: Mangione, of course, spoke in front of Thompson's emotional family today. The story he told of enduring years of pain after a broken back is part of why he's drawn a controversial wave of public sympathy among some followers, as his story became a focal point for anti-corporate frustration.
KAREN FRIEDMAN AGNIFILO: As Luigi explained in court today, he endured years of severe, debilitating pain following a broken back while struggling to navigate our health care and health insurance systems.
SANCHEZ: Ever since Mangione's arrest, this case has become a vehicle for people to make a point about health care, corporate power, politics, and more. But today, prosecutors pushed back on that idea, saying this case is about one thing: the law.
JAMIE MCDONALD: We live in a civilized society governed by the rule of law. We debate. We disagree. We protest. We do not commit murder. No grievance, political belief or ideological cause can ever justify murder. There can be no celebrity in assassination.
JESSICA TISCH: And to those who idolize Luigi Mangione, I say this violence is not a cause. Murder is not a message and a killer is certainly not a hero.
