Acquitted gunman Kyle Rittenhouse scolded Joe Biden during an interview with Tucker Carlson that aired Monday on Fox News, saying the president needs to “understand the facts.”
Rittenhouse, who was found not guilty Friday in a fatal shooting at a police brutality protest last year in Kenosha, Wisconsin, also accused the president of defaming him for linking him to white supremacy — even though Rittenhouse was photographed in January drinking with members of the Proud Boys at a Wisconsin bar and flashing a “white power” sign.
He also said he supports the Black Lives Matter movement — even though he killed two men and wounded a third at a protest sparked by the wounding of a Black father by a white Kenosha police officer on Aug. 23, 2020.
Rittenhouse, armed with an AR-15-style rifle, was in Kenosha to protect businesses during a night of unrest, he claimed, though business owners testified at his trial that no one had invited him to do so.
He also accused his first team of lawyers, including Lin Wood, of mishandling his case, claiming that he was left in jail even though they had raised his bail money and that they “put me on media interviews, which I should never have done.”
Rittenhouse complained of “87 days of not being with my family for defending myself and being ... used for a cause.”
“What did you make of the president of the United States calling you a white supremacist?” Carlson asked.
“Mr. President, if I could say one thing to you, I would urge you to go back and watch the trial and understand the facts before you make a statement,” Rittenhouse said. He accused the president of “actual malice, defaming my character, for him to say something like that,” adding that the “ways people are twisting this is just sickening.”
Carlson appeared to be referring to a Biden tweet from Sept. 30, 2020, amid the presidential campaign, when he attacked President Donald Trump for refusing to condemn white supremacy and violent militia groups during one of their presidential debates. Trump instead responded by telling the extremist Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” — which many took to mean that Trump wanted them to be prepared for action.
A video accompanying Biden’s tweet included an image of an armed Rittenhouse at the Kenosha protest paired with audio of debate moderator Chris Wallace asking Trump about violence in cities.
After Rittenhouse was acquitted, Biden said Friday, “The jury system works, and we have to abide by it.”
Carlson said Monday: “What a sweet kid.”
Check out the full interview in the video up top.
