Kyle Rittenhouse meets with Former President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago club

Following his acquittal of all charges in his homicide trial last week, Kyle Rittenhouse met with former President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club. The meeting was disclosed on Tuesday night during Trump’s interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity.

“Kyle, I got to know him a little bit, Trump said during the interview. “He called. He wanted to know if he could come over, say hello, because he was a fan.” He added that Rittenhouse, now 18, left Mar-a-Lago “a little while ago,” with Hannity adding that his interview with the former president was filmed on Monday. Fox showed a picture of Rittenhouse with Trump during the interview.

Trump said that Rittenhouse was forced to endure trial due to “prosecutorial misconduct.” He commented, “He came over with his mother. Really a nice young man. … That was prosecutorial misconduct. He should not have had to suffer through a trial for that. He was going to be dead.”

Trump was referring to Rittenhouse’s testimony that he shot three people, killing two of them, in self-defense during the riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin following the police shooting of Jacob Blake. The 12-juror panel deliberated more than 25 hours in the case, and on Friday acquitted Rittenhouse of first-degree intentional homicide and four other felony charges. That verdict cannot be appealed.

The verdict elucidated mixed feelings, with some attributing the acquittal to white supremacy in the legal system, while others agreeing that the right verdict was reached. President Joe Biden spoke to reporters on Friday, saying, “Look, I stand by what the jury has concluded. The jury system works, and we have to abide by it.” A later statement noted Biden’s acknowledgement that the verdict “will leave many Americans feeling angry and concerned, myself included,” but he reiterated that “the jury has spoken.”