Last week ended with a bombshell: Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted of all charges related to shooting three protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin, killing two. Since then, the Illinois teen, who largely kept quiet during the last year and change, has been making the interview rounds. First stop was Tucker Carlson, of course, where he accused Joe Biden, when he was running for the job he now holds, of “defaming” him by linking him with the people now cheering his getting off scot-free.
On Tuesday, Fox News’ Peter Doocy tried to come for the president, or at least the White House press secretary. He asked Jen Psaki, his frequent sparring partner, if Biden ever planned to apologize, specifically but not exclusively for a video he released before he won the 2020 election where he grouped him in with other violent militia and white supremacist groups who terrorized the country then, and now.
Asked if Biden would ever apologize to Kyle Rittenhouse, Psaki notes that Rittenhouse posed for photos with Proud Boys pic.twitter.com/soYAu7bUYz
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 23, 2021
Psaki began by contextualizing Doocy’s question. “This is about a campaign video released last year that used President Trump’s own words during a debate as he refused to condemn white supremacists and militia groups,” she said. “And President Trump, as you know from history, as many of you covered, didn’t just refuse to condemn militia groups on the debate stage, he actively encouraged them throughout his presidency.
“So what we’ve seen are the tragic consequence of that — when people think it’s okay to take the law into their own hands instead of allowing law enforcement to do its job,” she continued. “And the president believes in condemning hatred, division, and violence. That’s exactly what was done in that video.
When Doocy asked about another similar comment Biden had made about Rittenhouse, she pointed to the notorious photo he posed for alongside members of the Proud Boys, all of them flashing a white power symbol, Rittenhouse included.
In an interview with NewsNation released Tuesday, Rittenhouse placed the blame for that photo on his then-lawyers, including pro-Trump conspiracy theorist Lin Wood, whom he later fired. He said that they’d put him “in situations like that with people I don’t agree with,” that he didn’t know flashing OK had become a white power symbol, and that he had assumed those in the photo with him “were just a bunch of, like, construction dudes based on how they looked.”
Meanwhile, Rittenhouse’s current lawyer has slammed those on the right who’ve tried to exploit Rittenhouse’s case for personal and financial gain, including Matt Gaetz. He was also irritated with Tucker Carlson, but not enough, apparently, to stop his client from making him his first interview.
(Via Raw Story)