Fox News host Sean Hannity said toward the end of an interview with Donald Trump Tuesday night that the former president sat down with Kyle Rittenhouse at Mar-a-Lago in Florida after the teen was found not guilty last week, even showing a photo of the two meeting at Trump’s resort home.
“After the verdict, Kyle Rittenhouse went to visit you. I have a picture of it. I want to get your thoughts on the rush to judgment, especially Joe Biden,” Hannity said to Trump.
“Kyle, I got to know him a little bit. He called. He wanted to know if he could come over and say hello because he was a fan, unlike the other guy,” Trump said.
“He came over with his mother. Really a nice young man. And what he went through, that was prosecutorial misconduct. He should not have had to suffer through a trial for that,” the former president continued.
“He was gonna be dead. If he didn’t pull that trigger, that guy who put the gun to his head, in one-quarter of a second, he was gonna pull the trigger. Kyle would’ve been dead,” Trump continued.
“He’s a really good, young guy. He’s 18 years old. Just left Mar-a-Lago a little while ago, and he never should have been put through that. That was prosecutorial misconduct and it’s happening all over the United States right now with the Democrats,” Trump added.
Rittenhouse was found not guilty on five counts including two counts of murder in the shooting deaths of two men during riots last year in Kenosha, Wis., and the wounding of a third man. His defense team argued that the teen was acting in self-defense after he was set upon by nearly a half-dozen people, one of who clubbed him over the head with a skateboard, and another who came at him with a handgun. A sixth charge — a minor illegally in possession of a firearm — was tossed out by Judge Bruce Schroeder.
Immediately after the incidents, several media outlets and liberal pundits characterized Rittenhouse variously as a white supremacist, white nationalist, racist, and militia member — none of which were ultimately proven to be true. In addition, during his campaign last year, then-Democratic presidential nominee Biden also mistakenly suggested the teen was a white supremacist and member of a “militia.”
“I don’t know enough to know whether that 17-year-old kid, exactly what he did, but allegedly he’s part of a militia coming out of the state of Illinois,” Biden told CNN during an interview.
“Have you ever heard this president say one negative thing about white supremacists? Have you ever heard it? That’s the reason I got back in this race because what happened in Charlottesville,” Biden continued, referring to Trump.
Earlier Tuesday, Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked press secretary Jen Psaki if Biden planned on apologizing to Rittenhouse now that he’s been found not guilty and none of the allegations made about his character were accurate.
.@pdoocy: "Will the president ever apologize the Kyle Rittenhouse for suggesting that he is a white supremacist?"
Jen Psaki: It's Trump's fault. pic.twitter.com/0Uw0Oig1n6
— MRCTV (@mrctv) November 23, 2021
“Would the President ever apologize to the acquitted Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse for suggesting online and on TV, that he is a white supremacist?” Doocy asked.
“Well, let’s be clear what we’re talking about here. 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, and President Trump, as we know from history, and as many of you covered, didn’t just refuse to condemn militia groups on the debate stage, he actively encouraged them throughout his presidency,” Psaki responded.
“So, you know, what we’ve seen are the tragic consequences 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 and the president believes in condemning hatred, division, and violence,” she added. “That’s exactly what was done in that video.”
Jon has over 30 years' worth of reporting experience, as well as an author and U.S. Army veteran. He has a BA in political science from Ashford University and an MA in national security studies/intelligence analysis from American Military University.
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