The Patriot Post® · Psaki Blames Trump for Biden Defaming Rittenhouse
“I don’t know enough to know whether that 17-year-old kid, exactly what he did, but allegedly he’s part of a militia coming out of the state of Illinois,” opined then-candidate Joe Biden in an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper back in August 2020. “Have you ever heard this president say one negative thing about white supremacists? Have you ever heard it? That’s the reason I got back in this race because of what happened in Charlottesville.”
A month later, following his debate with Donald Trump, Biden released a campaign commercial depicting the infamous marching of white supremacists in Charlottesville combined with an image of Rittenhouse, and footage of Trump in the debate being pressed to condemn white supremacists. Biden included the following message with the release of the ad: “There’s no other way to put it: the President of the United States refused to disavow white supremacists on the debate stage last night.”
That was a lie predicated on another lie.
Fast-forward to the Rittenhouse trial. Days before the jury found Rittenhouse not guilty on all charges, Kyle’s mother, Wendy Rittenhouse, blasted Biden: “President Biden don’t know my son whatsoever. And he’s not a white supremacist. He’s not a racist. And [Biden] did that for the votes. And I was so angry for a while at him and what he did to my son. He defamed him.”
Given the facts of the trial, she’s right — there was no evidence to support the claim that Rittenhouse was a white supremacist, nor that he was a member of some racist militia group. Furthermore, all of his attackers that he shot in self-defense were white. The facts of the trial blew up the entire false narrative surrounding Rittenhouse being promulgated by Biden, most Democrats, and a Leftmedia clearly committed to pushing propaganda over and against the truth.
So yesterday, referencing the outcome of the trial, Fox News’s Peter Doocy asked White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki if Biden “would ever apologize to the acquitted Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse for suggesting online and on TV that he is a white supremacist.” Then the dancing began.
Psaki answered by immediately pivoting to blame Trump. She resurrected the demonstrably false claim that Trump refused to condemn white supremacists (he did repeatedly) along with another false smear, deceitfully claiming that “he actively encouraged them throughout his presidency.” When pressed again by Doocy as to the facts of the trial, Psaki two-stepped yet again, saying that Biden “has obviously condemned the hatred and division and violence we’ve seen around the country by groups like the Proud Boys and groups that that individual has posed in photos with.”
So, in other words, Biden has no plans to offer an apology. On a side note, we wonder how many pairs of dancing shoes Psaki has worn through since she’s been doing nothing but pirouettes as White House press secretary.
Of course, for Biden to apologize would be for him to admit that he defamed Rittenhouse, which would prove highly problematic for him should Rittenhouse sue him. Can Rittenhouse sue Biden for defamation when a sitting president enjoys certain immunities from civil lawsuits? The answer appears to be in the affirmative, as Biden was not president when he made the statements defaming Rittenhouse.
The U.S. Supreme Court dealt with this question in 1997 when it agreed that Paula Jones could proceed with a civil suit against Bill Clinton over claims of sexual harassment that occurred during his time as governor of Arkansas.
Rittenhouse has not yet raised a lawsuit against Biden, but many media pundits believe it will be coming soon, and deservedly so. While Rittenhouse may see a lot of money coming his way, the best outcome for the nation would be for Biden to be forced to publicly admit to defaming Rittenhouse and apologize.