Donald Trump & Kyle Rittenhouse Pose In Front Of A Photo Of Kim Jong-un During Mar-a-Lago Meeting
Oh, the irony.
Twitter Ever since the Kenosha shooting that happened on August 25th, 2020, Kyle Rittenhouse has been hailed as a right-wing icon and his actions on that fateful day have been politicized across the country.
Recently, Rittenhouse was acquitted of all charges in regards to the shooting that killed two men and injured another — prompting right-wing pundits to rejoice and pop champagne for their hero.
After his acquittal, Rittenhouse called the former president and asked to meet him in Mar-a-Lago.
One image from the meeting has left social media particularly amused.
Kyle Rittenhouse and Donald Trump posed in front of a Kim Jong-un photo.
During the meeting, Rittenhouse and Trump also took a photo together in front of another photo hanging on the wall where the former president is shaking hands with the Supreme Leader of North Korea.
RELATED: Verdict In Kyle Rittenhouse’s Trial Will Secure His Place As A Mascot For The Far-Right
Of course, Twitter rapidly ragged on the irony of Trump posing with Rittenhouse in front of Kim Jong-un, many calling it “painfully on brand.”
Trump’s presidency was often criticized for his seemingly lenient attitude toward international diplomatic relations — meeting with and befriending people like Vladimir Putin, the leader of Russia, as well as Kim Jong-un.
The juxtaposition of Trump, Rittenhouse, and Kim Jong-un, speaks on the tone-deafness of the previous president and the way that extremeists will prop up anyone who fits their agenda.
Trump has been consistently supportive of Kyle Rittenhouse.
It’s no surprise that Rittenhouse and Trump would somehow be connected after the now-18-year-old’s acquittal.
After the crime he committed that day in Wisconsin when he was 17, Trump praised Rittenhouse for his actions taken that day and defended him.
At a press briefing at the White House on Monday, August 31, 2020, Trump shared his beliefs that Rittenhouse was the one under attack that day, and not his victims.
"You saw the same tape as I saw and he was trying to get away from them, I guess, it looks like he fell and then they very violently attacked him,” he said of the victim carrying a plastic bag with toiletries inside, Joseph Rosenbaum, and the other victim with a skateboard, Anthony Huber.
"But I guess he was in very big trouble, he would've been, he probably would've been killed, but it's under investigation,” he added.
This Tuesday night during a nearly hour-long interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Trump spoke more about the Rittenhouse shooting as well as the meeting with Rittenhouse that happened “a little while ago.”
"If he didn't pull that trigger, that guy that put the gun to his head, in one-quarter of a second, he was going to pull the trigger. Kyle would've been dead," Trump said of Gaige Grosskreutz. "He's a really good young guy."
In 2016, Trump became the icon for this newly-revealed alt-right movement that would soon cause the largest political divide in the history of the country since the civil war.
Ever since Trump lost the election in 2020, he’s been used as the fuel to ignite the flames of those who want to politicize events that have nothing to do with politics and everything to do with basic human rights and social justice.
After the jury released their verdict and Rittenhouse was acquitted of all crimes, Trump followed up with a statement congratulating his win.
"It's called being found not guilty — and by the way, if that's not self-defense, nothing is!" he wrote in the statement.
"He called. He wanted to know if he could come over, say hello, because he was a fan," Trump said about the meeting with Rittenhouse.
“He came over with his mother. Really a nice young man. ... That was prosecutorial misconduct. He should have not have had to suffer through a trial for that. He was going to be dead."
Rittenhouse has been doing a sort of right-wing road trip across the country, meeting with Tucker Carlson for an interview on Monday and prompting U.S. representatives Matt Gaetz and Paul Gosar to talk about arm wrestling for Rittenhouse’s spot to intern at their offices.
The right-wing rodeo is having a field day with Rittenhouse’s acquittal, despite some pundits’ implosion over his comments that he supports Black Lives Matter in that Monday interview.
Isaac Serna-Diez is a writer who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Follow him on Twitter here.