Kyle Rittenhouse received a rock star welcome at the Turning Point USA conservative conference in Arizona on Monday, where some of the 6,700 attendees were chanting “Kyle! Kyle! Kyle!”
“You’re a hero to millions,” Turning Point USA leader Charlie Kirk told Rittenhouse during the group’s AmericaFest gathering in Phoenix. “It’s an honor to be able to have you.”
Rittenhouse seems to suggest he might sue some media outlets for how they covered the murder trial, but did not identify which outlets he could sue or any examples of defamation.
Rittenhouse also said he felt like a scapegoat in a government attempt to take people’s guns.
“My trial was an example of them trying to come after our Second Amendment rights, our right to defend ourselves and trying to take our weapons,” he told the crowd.
There were some Republicans who criticized TPUSA for inviting Rittenhouse.
“Whether or not you agree with the verdict is one thing,” Ashley Pratte Oates, a board member for Republican Women for Progress and a communications strategist, wrote in an opinion article for NBC News. “Glorifying someone who fatally shot two people and injured another (even though acquitted) is another.”
Some Fox News hosts warned that glorifying Kyle Rittenhouse might not be a good look for Republicans, but also compared the Rittenhouse media coverage to that of Nick Sandmann, who settled a lawsuit with NBC News.
When asked by Fox about Sandmann’s latest settlement, Rittenhouse responded, “Good for him.”