Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz lead celebrations of Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty verdict

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Right-wing members of Congress and supporters of former president Donald Trump celebrated Kyle Rittenhouse being found not guilty on all five charges for killing two people and wounding another during a riot in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

“NOT GUILTY!!!!!!!” Rep Matt Gaetz of Florida tweeted. Earlier in the week, Mr Gaetz said he was considering hiring Mr Rittenhouse as a congressional intern.

But Rep Paul Gosar, who was censured this week for tweeting a doctored anime video that had a character with his head killing a character with Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s’ head on it, said he’d arm-wrestle Mr Gaetz for the opportunity to have Mr Rittenhouse intern for him.

“Justice was served for #KyleRittenhouse and he is fully exonerated,” he tweeted. “As I said last year, obviously self-defense.”

Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia celebrated him being “ACQUITTED on ALL charges!”

“May Kyle and his family now live in peace,” Ms Greene tweeted. “Those who help, protect, and defend are the good guys. Kyle is one of good ones.”

Earlier this week, Fox News’s Peter Doocy asked White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki why Mr Biden called Mr Rittenhouse a “white supremacist,” which his mother denied. Sen Tom Cotton of Arkansas defended Mr Rittenhouse.

“Joe Biden needs to publicly apologize to Kyle Rittenhouse,” he tweeted.

Rep Thomas Massie of Kentucky also celebrated and also criticised a tweet that featured a video with Mr Rittenhouse holding a gun and calling him a white supremacist.

“@JoeBiden, you might want to delete this tweet. Defamation is a thing,” he tweeted. Mr Massie also said the video of the acquittal is a “must-watch” and said “There is hope for this country.”

Donald Trump Jr referenced how Mr Biden was put under anaesthesia on Friday to undergo a colonoscopy in the morning.

“The Rittenhouse jury just gave Biden his second colonoscopy of the day.”

The Twitter account for Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee tweeted simply “Justice” after the verdict was announced.

Republican Rep Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina also celebrated the verdict.

“ACQUITTED ON ALL CHARGES,” he tweeted.

Like Mr Gaetz and Mr Gosar, Mr Cawthorn offered Mr Rittenhouse an internship.

“You have a right to defend yourselves,” he said. “Be armed, be dangerous, be moral,” according to a video from his Instagram story that the Lincoln Project captured.