Rittenhouse says Biden was 'defaming' his character by linking him to white supremacists

Kyle Rittenhouse, the 18-year-old acquitted last week for murder in connection with a 2020 summer social justice riot in Wisconsin, is accusing President Biden of impugning his character. 

Rittenhouse made the accusation during an interview aired Monday night with Fox News' Tucker Carlson in which he asked the teen: "What did you make of the president of the United States calling you a white supremacist." 

Rittenhouse responded: "Mr. President, if I could say one thing to you, I would urge you to go back and watch the trial and understand the facts before you make a statement.

Rittenhouse, whose argued self defense and was found not guilty in the fatal shooting of two men during the riots in August of last year in Kenosha, also said about being considered a white supremacist: "It's actual malice, defaming my character, for him to say something like that."

Carlson and Rittenhouse were apparently referencing a video being cited by supporters of the teen that was tweeted by Biden during the 2020 presidential race that featured a clip from a debate between Biden and then-President Trump, according to The Hill newspaper.

During the debate, Trump was asked whether he was "willing to condemn white supremacist and militia groups and to say that they need to stand down and not add to the violence in a number of these cities as we saw in Kenosha and as we've seen in Portland." 

The clip shows Trump responding by condemning what he called political violence "from the left wing" before telling members of the Proud Boys to "stand back and stand by." 

"There’s no other way to put it: the President of the United States refused to disavow white supremacists on the debate stage last night," Biden later said in a tweet accompanying the video that included an image of Rittenhouse.

 After Rittenhouse was acquitted on Friday, Biden said he stood by what the jury had concluded, also according to The Hill.