It is certainly remarkable that a murderer has such a high approval rating, but he's still not close to being broadly popular.
> "Americans are twice as likely to view Luigi Mangione — who was charged with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson — very or somewhat unfavorably (43%) than favorably (23%)."
https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/51189-presidentia...
37% – Don't Know
43% – Unfavorable/Somewhat Unfavorable
That might as well be broad popularity for murder of all things. That don't know number is wild.
Only 29% of those age 18-29 view a murderer unfavorably, whereas 39% view him favorably and 32% aren't sure. It's break even for 30–44.
The support is heavily skewed by older age ranges (just 5% of >65).
If those age ranges were further broken out by political ideology it seems like it would be overwhelming for young liberals, since the all age "very liberal" has 47% support to 30% disapproval.
If your poll is to be believed, it isn't an online phenomenon at all.
Based on reddit, for example, you'd assume Mangione has more than 50% support when in reality he's not even close.
You know in the legends of Robin Hood, Prince John and the Sheriff of Nottingham also downplay the threat Robin poses to their status quo.
I really respect YouGov, but I'll play devil's advocate: maybe there is a bias in which members of society are willing to break the taboo. Perhaps older Americans are not less likely to support Mangione, but are just less likely to admit it. On the other hand, it is also consistent with younger people making up a larger proportion of social media users.
I doubt they're influencing this thread though.