Kyle Rittenhouse is a legend amongst the far-right community. In 2020, he killed two people and injured a third during a protest for racial justice in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Resultantly, he was charged with multiple criminal counts, including homicide. The gun rights activist claimed self-defense at trial and was acquitted in November of 2021. However, in a post now long-deleted, Rittenhouse claimed that Donald Trump was “bad on the Second Amendment.”And his fellow conservative fans weren’t too happy.
“If you cannot be completely uncompromisable on the Second Amendment, I will not vote for you,” said Rittenhouse. “We need champions for the Second Amendment or our rights would be eaten away and eroded each day.” Then, the infamous murderer unapologetically planned to write in former Rep. Ron Paul for president. His blatant opposition set off the far-right community. Naturally, an array of conspiracy theories surfaced, as well as a plethora of angry threads on X.
Many considered Rittenhouse a traitor. Some wished his civil lawsuits had put him in a jail cell. Others, specifically the far-right group Q-ANON, claimed him to be a secret transgender psy-op and crisis actor in the Sandy Hook shooting. Notably, posts on X promoted beliefs of Rittenhouse being a “biological female,” and one extremist account enthusiastically wrote “HE’S A SHE.”
Not even a full day passed before Rittenhouse did a complete 180. He soon posted, “Over the past 12 hours, I’ve had a series of productive conversations with members of the Trump’s team, and I am confident he will be the strong ally gun owners need to defend our Second Amendment rights. My comments made last night were ill-informed and unproductive. I’m 100% behind Donald Trump and encourage every gun owner to join me in helping send him back to the White House.”
Many of his conservative comrades welcomed him back joyously, while others criticized him for his treachery. Regardless, the man had the guts to take two lives but couldn’t take 24 hours of online backlash. Now only his ballot will know if he is a true and deserving conservative icon.
Photo courtesy of social media
