“He called. He wanted to know if he could come over, say hello, because he was a fan,” Trump said during an interview aired Tuesday night with Fox News’ Sean Hannity.
Trump said 18-year-old Rittenhouse left Mar-a-Lago “a short while ago” and Hannity had previously said his interview with Trump took place on Monday. During the interview, Fox showed Rittenhouse a photo of him posing with Trump.
The former president said, “He came with his mother. A really nice young man. … He was prosecuted for misconduct. He shouldn’t have faced trial for it. He was about to die.”
A 12-juror panel deliberating over the closely watched case for more than 25 hours eventually acquitted Rittenhouse on Friday of first-degree intentional murder and four other felony charges that cannot be appealed. .
The politicization of the matter comes amid an already tense political climate ahead of the 2022 elections and even the 2024 presidential race.
Trump, who is preparing for another race for the White House, has been praising Rittenhouse as a “poster boy” for his right to self-defense.
“Look, I stand by the conclusion the jury has made,” he said. “The jury system works, and we have to follow it.” In a statement later that day, Biden acknowledged that the verdict would “make many Americans feel angry and anxious, including me,” but reiterated that “the jury has spoken.”
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