Kyle Rittenhouse, fresh off an acquittal after being charged for the deaths of two men at a protest last year, said that President Joe Biden may have illegally defamed him by insinuating that he’s a “white supremacist.”
In his first media interview following his acquittal last week, the 18-year-old told Fox’s Tucker Carlson that the president may have committed an act of libel, adding that he should have learned the facts of the case before weighing in.
“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, referring to a video posted online by Biden’s team that used the teen’s image alongside the words “white supremacists.”
It’s actual malice, defaming my character, for him to say something like that.
Rittenhouse also took aim at much of the media coverage of his trial – in which he was charged for killing two men and injuring a third during a night of protests and rioting last year in Kenosha, Wisconsin. His attorneys argued that he fired in self-defense, and a jury ultimately acquitted him of all charges.
“It’s actually quite hysterical how nobody can go back and look at the facts of the case: ‘He crossed state lines’ – false. ‘He’s a white supremacist’ – false,” Rittenhouse said, naming common tropes that repeatedly appeared in press coverage. “None of that is true, and the lies that they can just get away with spreading is just sickening and it’s a disgrace to this country.”