Kyle Rittenhouse is creating a stir online among Donald Trump’s supporters for declaring that he would not vote for the former president in the 2024 presidential election, then walking back that statement.
Rittenhouse posted a video to his X account on Thursday, Aug. 1, stating that he’d be writing in former Texas congressman Ron Paul on the ballot rather than Trump.
“Unfortunately, Donald Trump had bad advisors making him bad on the Second Amendment and that is my issue. If you can not be completely uncompromisable on the Second Amendment, I will not vote for you and I will write somebody else in,” Rittenhouse said. “We need champions for the Second Amendment or our rights will be eaten away and eroded each day. I support my decision and I have no takebacks.”
His declaration seemed absolute, but a mere 12 hours later he deleted his post and walked back his statements.
“My comments made last night were ill-informed and unproductive. I’m 100% behind Donald Trump and encourage every gun owner to join me in helping send him back to the White House,” Rittenhouse wrote in a follow-up post.
The 21-year-old is widely known for shooting three protesters, killing two of them, during a racial justice protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 2020. Jurors cleared the then-17-year-old of all the charges, including intentional homicide, after his attorneys argued he acted in self-defense.
Many Trump operatives and rightwing politicians praised the verdict, so his proclamation that he would vote for Ron Paul, a now-retired politician, came as a shock to many MAGA supporters.
Ron Paul served in the House of Representatives in the 1970s and 1980s and then from 1997 to 2013. He launched three unsuccessful bids for president — one in 1988 as a Libertarian and then two in 2008 and 2013 when he sought the Republican nomination, according to his biography on the Congress website.
Many who back Trump condemned Rittenhouse as “treasonous” in light of all the support the former president’s camp has given him in recent years.
“Treasonous Kyle Rittenhouse has apologized for his blasphemous statements about our glorious MAGA Movement,” one X user wrote.
“Just remember, when it was political poison to take your side, Trump and MAGA was there for you during your lowest point,” another person wrote.
In the years since the acquittal, Rittenhouse has fashioned himself as a gun rights activist.
He went on a controversial tour earlier this year to speak to students at three different colleges about “the importance of the Second Amendment and the lies of (Black Lives Matter).” News of his scheduled appearances was met with opposition by many students, and massive protests broke out when he visited the campuses.
