White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki dodged a question about why President Joe Biden labeled Kyle Rittenhouse a white supremacist.
Fox News’s Peter Doocy asked Psaki why Biden made that suggestion during a White House press briefing Monday.
She replied, “What I’m not going to speak to right now is anything about an ongoing trial, nor the president’s past comments. What I can reiterate for you is the president’s view that we shouldn’t have, broadly speaking, vigilantes patrolling our communities with assault weapons.”
Psaki continued, “We shouldn’t have opportunists corrupting peaceful protests by rioting and burning down the communities they claim to represent.”
Watch part of the press briefing below:
Doocy: “Why did President Biden suggest that Kyle Rittenhouse … is a white supremacist?”
— The Recount (@therecount) November 15, 2021
Psaki: “We shouldn’t have, broadly speaking, vigilantes patrolling our communities with assault weapons." pic.twitter.com/N9jPenDXDZ
Rittenhouse is on trial for shooting three men, killing two and injuring another. The shooting took place after unrest broke out in Kenosha, Wisconsin, following the police shooting of Jacob Blake in 2020.
During an interview with Fox News, Rittenhouse’s mother Wendy blasted Biden for calling her son a white supremacist, as IJR reported.
“I was in shock. I was angry,” Wendy Rittenhouse said, adding, “President Biden don’t know my son whatsoever. He’s not a white supremacist. He’s not a racist and he did that for the votes. And I was so angry for a while at him and what he did to my son, he defamed him.”
On Monday, Judge Bruce Schroeder dismissed one of the “stronger counts against Rittenhouse” moments before closing arguments, as NBC News reported.
He dismissed one count of illegal possession of a dangerous weapon. According to the outlet, “The judge cited an exception within the law, dealing with age of the defendant, length of the barrel and hunting, for dismissing that count.”
Still, Rittenhouse faces five other charges related to the shooting. Last week, he took to the stand to testify.
“I didn’t do anything wrong. I defended myself,” Rittenhouse said.