So I've got an interesting one for you today. Some on the left have called him a white supremacist, some on the right have called him a hero, but he's neither. Kyle Rittenhouse was just seventeen years old when he went to Kenosha, Wisconsin, on August twenty fifth, twenty twenty. His goal was to protect local businesses, to potentially provide aid to those around him, and instead he ended up in a scenario where he was fighting for his life, where he had to exercise his right to self defense. He
is innocent in the eyes of the law. Take yourself back to when you were seventeen, how many stupid situations did you get yourself in. Look, I don't think Kyle Rittenhouse should have gone out that day, but he was also seventeen years old. I think he went out truly with the intention to protect his community. I also believe in the right to self defense, and I believe that's what he was doing, and so does the law. What does Kyle Rittenhouse have to say about all of this?
We're going to hear from him in his own words talking about his book Acquitted, where he tells his life story and he explains exactly what happened both August twenty fifth, twenty twenty, and in the days after, Stay tuned for Kyle Rittenhouse. Well, Kyle, it's nice to meet you. I appreciate you making the time. I imagine this is a busy time.
For you, absolutely, so thank you for having me on.
You know, obviously you wrote this book to give people better insight into who you are, because you know you've been misrepresented in the media. But who was Kyle Rittenhouse before August twenty fifth, twenty twenty.
Well, I talk about that quite a bit a bit in my book, Lisa. I talk about growing up with a drug addict dad, growing up homeless as a child, and living on government subsidized housing while I had a mom who was working eighty hours a week so she could put food on the table. That's who I was. I was a kid who was put in to unpredictable circumstances and put in challenging times and trials that we that most Americans face every day. And I wrote wrote
about that in my book. I also wrote about how I was a police explorer and a fire cadet, and how I had an urge to help people. And that's essentially what brought me down to the riots in August twenty fifth.
Who are you now? How would you describe yourself now?
I would describe myself today as a difficult question. I've never been asked that one, But if I had to describe myself, I would say I try to live as normal of a life as possible, whatever normal means. I work in nine to five. I've been doing a lot of interviews lately to talk about my book and to help share my story. But that's who I am. I'm a person who wakes up in the morning and I go to work, just like everybody else.
What's it been like to relive all of this in writing the book.
It's been an interesting journey. It's been It's been difficult at times because we've had to go back and watch all all the videos and and relive everything that happened, and watched the trial and talk about in detail my entire life.
What have you learned about the media and all of this.
Well, I learned that the media will say whatever they want to push their own narrative, and they are watching you like a hawk. Twenty four seven. Just the other day, I accidentally liked to post on Twitter from a friend of mine, and Newsweek wrote a hip piece article on it just because I accidentally like something, And I think that's absolutely ridiculous that they do that.
In hindsight, Why do you think you went that night in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Well, I went to Kenosha, Wisconsin to help people and provide medical aid and put out fires because I was asked to be there. With hindsight being twenty twenty as it always is, if I would have known, I would have been attacked and put on trial and forced to defend myself. I wouldn't have gone. It wasn't worth it. It doesn't change the thing fact that I defended myself, but it wasn't worth it.
I think one thing that doesn't get discussed as much is, you know, the politicians in Wisconsin failed. I mean, it should have never gotten that bad that you know, the community should have been protected from the beginning. Well, why do you think that never gets focused on of how these elected officials failed the community?
Well, a lot of elected officials like to lie to their constituents and say what they want to hear and then deliver on another thing, and then they're bought out by lobbyists and paid for and essentially just do a lot of this for money, when in reality it shouldn't be done for money. It should be done for the people and for their best interests, not for big companies and lobbyists.
I guess you know, what have you learned about politicians through all this?
I learned that very few of them can be trusted, and they all have their own motive and their own their own agenda to push. And that's what I've learned. And I learned you can't trust any of them, and you really need to do your research on them because a lot of times they'll just say what you want to hear.
Take us through in your own words, because you know, obviously the media has painted a picture. You know, Take us through in your own words. What happened on August twenty fifth, twenty twenty.
Well, on August twenty fifth of twenty twenty, I was there in Kenosha helping people, providing first aid, and I was going to put out a fire at a CarMax that we were protecting to put out fires, and I was ambushed by several people and forced to defend myself against Joseph Roe's mom, then chased down and had to defend myself a second time against three other attackers, one being jump kick Man, the other being Anthony Huber, who hit me in the back of the head with the
skateboard while I was on the ground, and the third be engaged grocers who put a gun in my face while I was also on the ground.
What do you think would have happened if you hadn't have defended yourself.
Oh, I'd be dead. I would one hundred percent be dead if I didn't defend myself.
Yeah, I think a lot of times in these situations, you know, it's hard for anyone to know what it's like to have to make a split sef decision. I mean we see this with police officers very often who get condemned for using lethal force. It's almost impossible for people to put themselves in that situation of the kind of decisions you have to make in you know, a split second. I mean, you didn't really have time to think about you know what this all would lead to.
I mean, it was a split second decision you had to make.
Absolutely everything happened within a total of like three minutes from the first shooting to when I turned my when I walked to the police line. People don't realize how fast that happened. And of course in a courtroom you could slow everything down and go frame by frame and go through all the details, and it seems like this was this long event, when in reality, it was this very short, quick event of where I had to defend myself.
You know, obviously you said you regretted going that night. I think most people would say, you know, why was he there as a seventeen year old? But you know you were seventeen. Not everyone makes the best decisions when you're seventeen years old. I can't imagine the fear that you were going through when you know, you realize that, okay, I'm under attack, I could die, you know, take us through that absolutely.
So I was terrified. I knew if I didn't defend myself, I wouldn't be going home and I would be dead. And I did what I had to do to protect myself. I was scared and terrified for my life.
What's it like when you were awaiting trial, you know, not not knowing how this jury would come down on these charges against you. I mean, I imagine you know, that's just got to be so anxious and scary to be awaiting your fate in the hands of a jury, and you have no idea which way they could go, particularly in this environment, in this world.
Well, I just had to trust in God. I had to trust in whatever happened was going to happen. No matter what. God plan is the right plan, and he would keep me safe and protected.
Did you Was there any part of you when the jury came down that you thought that it could go in the other direction.
I didn't actually think about that much. I was just I was so nervous for the verdict because it could have gone any direction. The jury could have voted any single way. They could have decided I was guilty or not guilty, and thank god they made the right verdict to declare me not guilty. But I didn't focus on that much because they would have just ate me up too much.
You also had some civil lawsuits filed against you as well. Are you still fighting those?
Yes? I am. I'm fighting three civil lawsuits at the moment.
And you've also threatened to tosue the media. What's the status of that. On these defamation lawsuits.
We looked into it. Defamation is near impossible to prove, and they consider me a public figure, so I have a higher bar to prove, and essentially the media can say whatever they want about me.
You know, I think people you know forget well. Campaigning for president, you know, Joe Biden used images of you in a campaign video. That must have been pretty alarming for you to have seen.
Oh that ticked me off. Like to see the former vice president and now current president using my face in his campaign video to gain voters and making something that was non political political, it really ticks me off.
Take a quick commercial break more with Kyle Rittenhouse. On the other side, you had supported President Trump and attended a rally. How much of that do you think came into play in some of the public slander that you've experienced.
I wasn't very political before everything happened. A lot of people will say I was, but I didn't really know much about politics. President Trump came and supported me from the beginning, and that's why I like President Trump. But it didn't have a really play into why I went down there. But I think they, the media and other politicians saw it as this kid is a kid who went to a Trump rally. He's this maga person. We're
going to rail against him. Even though I was seventeen, because if I was on the other side, they would have probably came to my defense.
I think what's particularly frustrating as well is, you know, those riots were following the death of Jacob Blake, a man who after you know, through investigation, you know, he pulled a knife on police officers, she showed up at a woman's house to revictimize her. You know, that's who these people came out to defend and to riot for. And we also have seen people like Kamala Harris praised
Jacob Blake as well. You know, the Governor Tony Ivers, you know, governor of Wisconsin, you know, came out and supported him as well. So I mean talk about that.
I didn't really pay attention to the Jacob Blake case much. I know what happened a little bit, but I was focus on my own things going on at the time, and you'll notice I didn't. I do notice a pattern with these left leaning politicians. They come to support these violent criminals who do bad things, and sometimes bad things do happen to them, and we do need to support
them because that's what we need to do. But when they do the bad thing, we don't need to support them and encourage them for doing bad things.
Tony Evers. I mean, you know, we've seen cases of self defense in the country. You know Daniel Penny, you know, currently facing trial for what happened in New York City. Why do you think there's such an animus against the right to self defense?
Because I think the government wants complete control and they want to take that right from us, and we can't let them. We have to vote them out and put politicians in place that will support the right to self defense, who will support the Second Amendment, and who won't throw you in prison for defending yourself.
Why do you think these kinds of riots that we saw in the summer of twenty twenty, and you know we're seeing some of it now, you know, these pro Palestinian riots. Why do politicians allow for some of these violent riots to take place.
I think it puts fear into other voters who aren't outrioting. I think other everyday people see, oh, while the world is burning down, if we don't vote for this left leaning politician, we're just going to have more riots than the riots aren't going to stop. Because if you notice a pattern, they always flow up during an election cycle.
Why do you think the Second Amendment is so despised by so many Americans?
That's a good question. I have no idea. The Second Amendment was written by our founding fathers and it was very intentional what they wrote, and I think it should stay that way. I think our founding fathers they wrote our Constitution very intentionally, and our politicians' jobs are to protect the Concertstitution and make sure that the Constitution has
followed through with. But we have politicians like Gavin Governor Gavin Newsom, Newsom who's trying to introduce a twenty eighth Amendment on firearms and that essentially dissolves the Second Amendment and that can't be stood for that's unconstitutional.
If you had to sum up everything that's happened to you, what have you learned from all of this?
Learn who you can trust, learn who you let into your circle, and to always think before you do something.
What's been the response from, you know, family and having to battle through this.
My family has been very supportive during the trials and stuff.
You know, and I know a lot's been made of Oh well, you know, you're trying to profit off of this, you know, with the book. But what have been the costs in having to defend yourself in court and in with these civil cases as well, that the financial costs.
Millions of dollars have been paid to lawyers to keep me out of jail and to help fight these civil lawsuits, and I still have legal debt.
What have you learned about the legal process through all of this?
That lawyers are expensive. Lawyers are very, very expensive, and that the legal system will try to mess with you every way possible to throw you in prison, and they'll try to make it to where you can't defend yourself, and then if you do win, they'll draw you in civil lawsuits and try to bankrupt you and take every financial asset you have.
Do you think you know when people say justice is blind, is it?
It can be? It can be blind in sometimes in some ways I think a lot of people. I think our court system works in an extent. It worked for me in the criminal case. Our justice system worked. I shouldn't have been prosecuted, but the jury got it right. They looked at the facts and they did not let public opinion or bias sway them to voting guilty. They
voted the correct verdict, not guilty. But there's other cases such as Daniel Perry to where the jury voted guilty when there was an overwhelming amount of self defense claims in his trial, and in my opinion, I believe he acted in self defense.
If your case was tried in a different state, a different part of the country, what do you think the outcome would have been.
That's a good question. I thought about that a lot until the Daniel Perry situation, because I thought, Hey, if this happened in Texas, I would never have been tried. But Daniel Perry, who had a similar situation, he was tried and he was found guilty. So it was a very difficult thing to see. But it made me think like, wow, maybe if this did happen in a more conservative state, I would have still been put on trial, because it all depends on the DA of that county.
Yeah, and we've seen people like you know, George Soros trying to elect some of these progressive das. What do you think that means for the future of the country. You know, how concerned are you about the you know, justice system as we move forward as a country with some of these progressive das.
Well, it's very scary. It's a very scary thing to say that George Soros wants to have these left leaning and bad district attorneys elected, because then it means that he practically has full control of the judicial system. And it's scary to see. It's scary to see what will happen if that is the case, and how the DA's that are elected by him will twist the law and throw innocent people in prison.
Quick break stay with us some on the rate, Have you know, sort of made you a full hero to some degree? Why do you think that is?
I don't know. I'm not a hero at all. I'm not a hero. I'm not a villain.
I'm just a person, you know, and talking do it and seeing you know, your interviews and reading up about you. There does not seem to be any case to be made that you went there that night looking to harm people or looking to you know, kill people, or anything like that. What's the toll on a human being to have to take the life of another person.
Well, I deal with emotional trauma every single day. I deal with PTSD and nightmares and anxiety when I go out into public. It's a huge toll that a lot of people don't realize.
Are you seeking therapy and trying to work through that.
There are some people I talk to and there are ways that I do work through this. I have a service dog who has been a great help, and he comes with me everywhere. You probably hear him in the background. He's moving around, ready to go outside and play. Some ball.
Dogs are sent from God. I think we don't. We don't deserve them. There I have a dog as well. There are grazing creature, the amazing creatures. What do you want for the rest of your life? Obviously your life's been turned upside down. Obviously this is not the life you thought you would have. What do you want to do with your life?
I just want to live free from harassment. I just want to live my life and live free from people harassing me and coming up to me and like, just move on. That was the goal with the Buck, is to get my story out there once and for all, and just to be able to move on after these civil lawsuits.
I think most people, you know, look, I work in the public eye, and I certainly have not experienced the kind of harassment that you've experienced. But I don't think most people understand kind of what that is like, you know, take us through what you've had to experience in terms of that harassment, in terms of that vitriol being aimed in your direction.
I've experienced good and bad harassment. I've experienced death threats a countless number almost every single day. I experienced people coming up to me when I have my mouth filled with food I'm at a restaurant asking to take pictures. I was out with the friend yesterday and we were out at the beach and playing with my dog in the water, and I've had people come up to me there. It's just very difficult to go outside and to not be recognized.
You've done a lot of interviews so far on the book, and there's been a lot written about it. Is there anything people are missing that you want to get out there that you wish people would report on from the book and from your life.
Yeah. The left wing media keeps reporting on the book in a way that is terrible, and they haven't even read the book based on reading their articles, so I encourage them to read the book because they got a lot wrong. Especially MSNBC. Their article they wrote a couple of days ago is absolutely ridiculous, saying I'm doing this for political power, if you just picked up the book and read it, you would know that this isn't about political power.
Well, I did most accidentally call MSCMS thirteen a few times on Fox my accident, but maybe but maybe somewhat accurate. Yeah, yeah, because you faced it an onslaught of character assassination by so many people. What's it like to be labeled something you know you're not.
It's aggravating. I see it every single day. I have constant media attacks, and it's just disgusting that the media can say some stuff, say the stuff about me and just get away with it. Like they just constantly double down and say these terrible, terrible false lies about me, and I think they know their lies, and then they label it as opinion. But it still hurts my character and still makes people want to hurt me or attack me and puts my safety at risk.
Is there anything else you'd like to leave us with before we go.
Well, Lisa, I just want to say thank you for having me on to discuss my new book. If anybody's interested in ordering a copy, you can go to rittenhousebook dot com and pre order a copy. You can also pre order a signed version where I'll be hand signing every single copy that shipped out that's pre ordered for sign.
Kyle Rittenhouse, appreciate you taking the time to talk about your new book Acquitted.
Thank you, Lisa.
It was Kyle Rittenhouse talking about his new book Acquitted and talking about what he went through the young age of seventeen. He was seventeen. Then. Want to thank you at home for listening every Monday and Thursday, but you can listen throughout the week. I want to thank my producer, John Cassio for putting the show together. Until next time.