Former Trump White House communications director Alyssa Farah slammed conservatives for treating Kyle Rittenhouse like a hero after his acquittal for the shootings in Kenosha.
CNN’s Brianna Keilar spoke to Farah on Monday about Rittenhouse being found not guilty in the charges he faced for shooting three people in the midst of 2020’s civil unrest. Keilar noted how conservatives are celebrating the verdict, even as Rittenhouse’s lawyer has been offering a more measured tone in the trial’s aftermath.
Asked for her thoughts, Farah called the verdict “legally sound,” but she expressed worry about future vigilantism and questioned Rittenhouse’s judgment. She also said “I’m a little afraid of my friends on the right — and I am a Republican — lionizing him and sort of making him this martyr for the cause.”
Farah added that “this young man is being used as a pawn right now.” She referred to how Fox News’ Tucker Carlson interviewed Rittenhouse after the trial, plus the conservatives who are trying to use the acquittal as political ammunition.
Yes, it was self-defense, but he killed people. And that is going to come to bear for him and be very challenging. And rather than kind of using him to earn cheap political points, maybe it’s time to move on. I actually thought Joe Biden’s statement was very effective, which was to say ‘we&
#8217;ve got to allow the rule of law to play out, it did in this case, but it’s also time to heal and move on.’ That’s what we should be doing. We shouldn’t be putting Kyle Rittenhouse on TV. We shouldn’t be making him a hero. He’s not. He got off, and we need to move on and the state needs to heal.
Farah’s sentiment echoes Rittenhouse attorney Mark Richards, who has accused Republicans of attempting to “profit” off of his client by offering him internships.
Watch above, via CNN.