President Joe Biden may face a lawsuit over his evidence-free claim that Kyle Rittenhouse is a white supremacist, the teenager indicated in an interview that aired on Monday night.
Biden made the claim while he was a presidential candidate in 2020. He provided no proof for the label.
“It’s actual malice, defaming my character for him to say something like that,” Rittenhouse told Fox News.
It was the first time the teen has responded to the claim.
The term actual malice refers to a legal standard set by the Supreme Court for libel cases where public figures can win damages, according to the Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University.
Various lawyers have said Rittenhouse could sue Biden and others for defamation, and the teen suggested that may happen.
“I have really good lawyers who are taking care of that right now. So, I’m hoping, one day, there will be accountability for their actions that they did,” he said.
The White House has not responded to requests for comment on Biden’s claim.
Rittenhouse shot three men in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Aug. 25, 2020. He was acquitted on all charges last week, successfully making the case that he carried out the shootings in self-defense. Video footage and testimony showed the men each attacked or were advancing towards him when they were shot.
Biden’s claim came in a Twitter post from his official account. He was criticizing then-President Donald Trump, alleging Trump “refused to disavow white supremacists” during a debate they took part in the night prior.
A video attached to the tweet showed people during the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, as well as Rittenhouse in Kenosha.
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. pic.twitter.com/Q3VZTW1vUV
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 30, 2020
“When I saw that I was shocked. I was angry,” Wendy Rittenhouse, Rittenhouse’s mother, told Fox earlier this month.
“He 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,” she added.
Neither Biden nor officials speaking for him have ever addressed his description of the teenager.
By Zachary Stieber
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