Kyle Rittenhouse reversed course on Friday after initially stating that he would not vote for former President Donald Trump because of some of the candidate’s alleged positions on firearms.
“Over the past 12 hours, I’ve had a series of productive conversations with members of the Trump’s team and I am confident he will be the strong ally gun owners need to defend our Second Amendment rights,” Rittenhouse posted on X on August 2, 2024.
“My comments made last night were ill-informed and unproductive. I’m 100% behind Donald Trump and encourage every gun owner to join me in helping send him back to the White House,” he continued.
The pro-gun activist and commentator, who now lives in North Texas, recanted his Thursday night position where he said he would include former Texas congressman Ron Paul on his November ballot.
“Unfortunately, Donald Trump has bad advisors making him bad on the Second Amendment, and that is my issue,” he posted in a since-deleted post on X.
“We need champions for the Second Amendment, or our rights will be eaten away,” Rittenhouse added.
Rittenhouse drew international attention at age 17 for shooting three men in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August 2020, during a Black Lives Matter protest over a police shooting. Two men died of their wounds; however, Rittenhouse was cleared of any wrongdoing as his actions were deemed self-defense.
Rittenhouse is currently the outreach director for Texas Gun Rights (TXGR).
Shortly after the 2020 shooting incident, Rittenhouse posted on X, “Trump showed support for me from the beginning. I will gladly support and stand up for a President who cares about the American people and does what is right.”
His brief withdrawal of support garnered considerable criticism from pro-gun advocates.
“Oh well, Kyle I regret to inform you that I will no longer be one of your guests on September 12 at the TXGR event. I reckon you can write in someone else. This was not the way, bud,” Blaze TV host Chad Prather wrote on X prior to Rittenhouse’s reversal.
“Kyle Rittenhouse took the support of MAGA and Donald Trump but now is completely turning on him to ‘write in’ a candidate in 2024. After all the movement did for him? Absolutely disgusted with this kid,” Joey Mannarino wrote on X.
Others defended Rittenhouse’s decision.
“Rittenhouse didn’t have to do this. He knew it would be unpopular. Rittenhouse stood up to the communists in Kenosha at great personal risk, now he’s standing up to the gun-grabbers running for president. Kyle Rittenhouse truly is a hero,” Libertarian Party NH posted on X.
“I defended Kyle Rittenhouse because he was morally and legally justified in killing that dude not because I thought he was voting for Trump or ‘on our side.’ I also ‘wasted my votes’ on Libertarians in my twenties. Maybe cut the dude some slack,” Royce Lopez wrote on X.
The Dallas Express reached out to Rittenhouse for comment but did not receive a response by publication.