Psaki links Kyle Rittenhouse to Proud Boys after teenager hits out at Biden over white supremacist ‘defamation’

White House press secretary Jen Psaki refused on Monday to bend to criticism of President Joe Biden’s inclusion of Kyle Rittenhouse in a montage of images that played during a campaign video which criticised former President Donald Trump for refusing to condemn white supremacists.

During her daily press briefing, Ms Psaki was questioned by Fox News’s Peter Doocy regarding a video posted during the 2020 campaign which showed a photo of Mr Rittenhouse among pictures of right-wing protesters as audio played of the network’s anchor Chris Wallace asking Mr Trump whether he would condemn white supremacist and militia groups during a debate with Mr Biden.

Mr Doocy asked whether Mr Biden “would ever apologise” to Mr Rittenhouse “for suggesting online and on TV that he is a white supremacist”.

Ms Psaki responded that the video was meant to show how Mr Trump “actively encouraged” white supremacist and right wing militia groups during his presidency, before addressing Mr Rittenhouse himself.

In her answer, she referred to a 2020 photo that showed Mr Rittenhouse posing with members of the right-wing Proud Boys group following his not guilty plea in the case of the shootings in Kenosha, Wisc., for which he was charged.

Mr Biden, she added, “spoke to the verdict last week, he has obviously condemned the hatred and division and violence we’ve seen around the country [committed] by groups like the Proud Boys, and groups that that individual has posed in photos with”.

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