Matt Gaetz said his office is open to hiring Kyle Rittenhouse as a congressional intern if he’s ‘interested in helping the country in additional ways’

• Matt Gaetz said on Wednesday that he thought Kyle Rittenhouse would make a good congressional intern.
• “We may reach out to him and see if he’d be interested in helping the country in additional ways,” Gaetz said of Rittenhouse.
• A jury is currently deliberating if Rittenhouse is guilty of five felonies, including first-degree homicide.

Florida congressman Matt Gaetz said he thought Kyle Rittenhouse would make a good congressional intern and said he may contact him to make the job offer happen if he’s “interested.” 

In an interview on Newsmax on Wednesday, Gaetz spoke up in defense of Rittenhouse, saying he deserved a “not guilty” verdict even as a 12-person jury continues to deliberate the verdict. 

“He deserves a not guilty verdict, and I sure hope he gets it because you know what, Kyle Rittenhouse would probably make a pretty good congressional intern,” Gaetz said. “We may reach out to him and see if he’d be interested in helping the country in additional ways.”

Rittenhouse, 18, is on trial for fatally shooting Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, and injuring Gaige Grosskreutz, during a Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last year. He pleaded not guilty and his attorneys claim he acted in self-defense. He faces five felony charges, including first-degree intentional homicide.

Gaetz also spoke up in defense of “QAnon Shaman” Jacob Chansley, who was sentenced on Wednesday to 41 months’ jail for his role in the January 6 Capitol riot, calling him a “relatively harmless, nonviolent vegan.” 

“The notion that he’s got to be in prison for three-and-a-half years to settle some sort of political score defies justice,” Gaetz said. “The American people deserve a Department of Justice that is the least political agency in Washington, and instead what we’ve got is a Department of Justice that is the most political agency in Washington.”

Gaetz is himself the subject of a DOJ investigation into whether he paid underage girls for sex.