Republican politicians praise Rittenhouse verdict: 'I'm going to arm wrestle Matt Gaetz to get dibs for Kyle as an intern'
- Kyle Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all charges after killing 2 men during racial justice protests.
- Republicans celebrated the verdict while attacking Biden for labeling Rittenhouse a "white supremacist."
Republican members of Congress were elated on Friday after a Wisconsin jury found 18-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty on all charges after he shot and killed two men and injured another during racial justice protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August 2020.
The trial, which lasted two weeks and concluded with 3 1/2 days of deliberation by the jury, quickly became a high-profile media event that drew attention from both liberals and conservatives. Rittenhouse pleaded not guilty.
Republicans, touting the jury's verdict as a political victory, took to Twitter to express their satisfaction.
"May Kyle and his family now live in peace," wrote Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. "Kyle is one of [the] good ones."
Rep. Paul Gosar, who was censured by the House on Wednesday after he posted an anime video edited to show him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, said on Twitter that he would "arm wrestle" Rep. Matt Gaetz in order to "get dibs for Kyle as an intern."
Gaetz said on Wednesday that he was interested in hiring Rittenhouse as an intern. "He deserves a 'not guilty' verdict, and I sure hope he gets it, because you know what, Kyle Rittenhouse would probably make a pretty good congressional intern," Gaetz said at the time. "We may reach out to him and see if he'd be interested in helping the country in additional ways."
And Rep. Madison Cawthorn posted a video on Instagram live that included text that read "KYLE: IF YOU WANT AN INTERNSHIP, REACH OUT TO ME."
"You have a right to defend yourself. Be armed, be dangerous, and be moral," Cawthorn said in the video.
Other Republicans called for President Joe Biden to apologize for suggesting that Rittenhouse was a white supremacist. They pointed to a Twitter video from Biden's campaign in September 2020 that featured Rittenhouse while highlighting Trump's refusal to condemn white supremacists. Rittenhouse's mother had also highlighted the video, claiming Biden defamed her son.
Greene also took aim at Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic caucus chair, for a November 10 tweet that read, "Lock up Kyle Rittenhouse and throw away the key."
"This tweet is a dog whistle to the radical violent left," she wrote.
Rep. Lee Zeldin, who's running for governor of New York, seemingly celebrated the verdict as a victory for the right to self defense.
Rep. Mary Miller, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, called out "the media," "Hollywood celebrities," and "liberal blue checkmarks on Twitter" as she declared that "justice has prevailed for Kyle Rittenhouse."
And a tweet on the House GOP Judiciary account simply said, "Justice."