The Media Lynching of Kyle Rittenhouse
Attacked in Kenosha, the teenager fired in self-defense.
by Robert Stacy McCain
September 3, 2020, 3:57 PM
You might think that people who get paid to write for prestige publications would be better journalists than mere bloggers, but then you encounter people like David Graham, who not only writes for the Atlantic, but actually teaches journalism at Duke University. In a remarkably counterfactual column Tuesday, Graham claimed that the riot in Kenosha, Wisconsin, “could cost Trump the election.â€
Showing up with a rifle at mob scene like the Kenosha riots was a decision almost guaranteed to end badly. The question deserves to be asked, however: Why did officials allow this mob scene to happen?
While his primary object was to amplify Democratic talking points — accusing President Trump of “making every effort to stir up racial tension and provoke violence after the shooting of Jacob Blake†— Graham also casually smeared 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse. Graham expressed astonishment that Trump would defend the teenager who shot three rioters after being attacked last week. At a Monday press briefing, Trump “not only didn’t condemn Rittenhouse’s actions, but defended him,†Graham huffed, before misquoting the president. Here is what Trump actually said Monday when asked about Rittenhouse:
“We’re looking at all of it. And that was an interesting situation. You saw the same tape as I saw. And he was trying to get away from them, I guess; it looks like. And he fell, and then they very violently attacked him. And it was something that we’re looking at right now and it’s under investigation. But I guess he was in very big trouble. He would have been — I — he probably would have been killed.â€
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https://spectator.org/the-media-lynching-of-kyle-rittenhouse/
