‘He’s a really good young guy’: Trump says he met with Rittenhouse at Mar-a-Lago

• In an interview with Sean Hannity, Trump said Kyle Rittenhouse called him and wanted to meet. 
• Trump defended Rittenhouse and called him a “nice young man.”
• Rittenhouse was found not guilty of all charges in his homicide trial on Friday. 

Former President Donald Trump said he met with Kyle Rittenhouse at Mar-a-Lago in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity that aired on Tuesday. 

Trump said he met with Rittenhouse a “little while ago.” CNN reported that the interview took place on Monday. The former president said Rittenhouse, who was was found not guilty on all charges in his homicide trial, was a “nice young man.” 

Trump said Rittenhouse and his mother visited him at Mar-a-Lago and called Rittenhouse a “fan.”

“Kyle, I got to know him a little bit. He called, he wanted to know if he could come over and say hello cause he was a fan,” Trump told Hannity, adding that Rittenhouse brought his mother on the visit.

“Really a nice young man. What he went through … that was prosecutorial misconduct. He should not have had to suffer through a trial for that. He was going to be dead,” Trump said. “If he didn’t pull that trigger, that guy that put the gun to his head, in one-quarter of a second, he was going to pull the trigger. Kyle would’ve been dead. He’s a really good young guy.” 

Rittenhouse was on trial for fatally shooting Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and injuring Gaige Grosskreutz on August 25, 2020, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, during civil unrest that erupted after the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

Rittenhouse and his attorneys said he was acting in self-defense. He said he was in Kenosha to protect local businesses and that he feared for his life at the time of the shooting. 

The meeting with Trump comes after Rittenhouse gave an exclusive interview with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson that aired on Monday. Rittenhouse told Carlson that he “didn’t know he was going to be arrested for defending” himself and that he wasn’t racist and supported the Black Lives Matter movement.

Rittenhouse also said his first attorneys, Lin Wood and John Pierce used him for their own gain and did not respect his wishes.

In an interview with NewsNation’s Ashleigh Banfield that also aired Tuesday, Rittenhouse, who was photographed with a member of the Proud Boys earlier this year, said Pierce set up that meeting and he didn’t even know who the Proud Boys were at the time.