U.S. President Joe Biden, who was given a physical this morning at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, speaks to reporters upon his return to the White House in Washington, November 19, 2021.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
President Joe Biden said he stood by a jury’s decision to acquit Kyle Rittenhouse of all charges Friday related to fatally shooting two men and wounding a third during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last year.
Biden, who said he had not watched the trial, last year in a tweet from his account included Rittenhouse’s image in a montage of photos and video to blast then-President Donald Trump for refusing “to disavow white supremacists on the debate stage.”
The shootings by Rittenhouse with an AR-15-style rifle came during civil unrest over the shooting of a black man, Jacob Blake, by a white police officer, which left Blake paralyzed from the waist down.
When asked about the verdict, Biden told reporters, “I stand by what the jury has concluded.”
“The jury system works and we have to abide by it,” the president said.
On Monday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki refused to answer a question about why Biden suggested that Rittenhouse was a white supremacist.
But in her response, Psaki implied that Rittenhouse was a vigilante.
“What I’m not going to speak to right now is an ongoing trial, nor the president’s past comments,” Psaki said. “What I can reiterate for you is the president’s view that we shouldn’t have, broadly speaking, vigilantes patrolling our communities with assault weapons.”
“We shouldn’t have opportunists corrupting peaceful protests by rioting and burning down the communities they claim to represent,” she said.
Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican who represents Wisconsin, in a statement said, “I believe justice has been served in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial.”
“I hope everyone can accept the verdict, remain peaceful, and let the community of Kenosha heal and rebuild,” Johnson said.
