Less than a month after being cleared of all charges relating to the shooting of three men – two fatally – during a riot, Kyle Rittenhouse has already appeared on several high-profile conservative shows, including Louder with Crowder, Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show, and Charlie Kirk’s podcast.
The 18-year-old is now set to appear at Turning Point USA’s ‘AmericaFest’, alongside the likes of Donald Trump Jr, Senator Ted Cruz, and the aforementioned Carlson.
Event organisers claim it will be the “greatest freedom party ever,” with almost exclusively right-wing politicians and media personalities having been invited thus far.
Many on the political right have warmly embraced Mr Rittenhouse ever since he was cleared of fatally shooting two protesters in August of last year. Mr Rittenhouse shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber in what he said was an act of self-defence after going to a riot in Kenosha, Wisconsin sparked by the police shooting of a Black man.
Other conservative personalities, like Steven Crowder and Glenn Beck, leapt to the defence of the Illinois native, who argued in court that he was attempting to protect property in the midst of a Black Lives Matter protest.
Mr Rittenhouse has already met with former President Donald Trump, at the 75-year-old’s Mar-a-Lago resort. This was followed up with an appearance on Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk’s podcast – which subsequently led to an AmericaFest invite.
Mr Kirk’s interview with the recently acquitted teen has amassed almost 200k views on YouTube, which underlines his popularity online. With this in mind, in hardly surprising that Mr Rittenhouse is set to appear at AmericaFest.
According to its website, it is a “non-profit organization whose mission is to identify, educate, train, and organize students to promote freedom”.
However, Turning Point and Mr Kirk have also been accused of promoting misinformation.
In a statement given to Newsweek, Andrew Kolvet, spokesperson for Turning Point USA, added: “TPUSA Founder Charlie Kirk has already interviewed Kyle [Rittenhouse] on his podcast and he’s looking forward to having Kyle take the main stage and tell the world what he’s been through, what he’s learned and what he plans to do next.
“If the initial reaction to the announcement is any indication, it seems a lot of folks are excited to hear what he has to say as well.”
