We have to dance around this topic with sensitivity. Despite what you read on Twitter or Instagram, Kyle Rittenhouse is not a “murderer.” Murder is a legal term of art, killing with malice aforethought, and Kyle Rittenhouse was found innocent by a jury. It is critical to keep that in mind while we convict him of being an extremely dangerous moron, which isn’t a legal term of art.

Rittenhouse is also a “fraud” – we know that. but no one knows better than the “victim” of the Rittenhouse shooting, Paul Prediger, the man who survived (Two others, unfortunately, died).  Technically, it’s wrong to call Prediger a victim because a jury found that Rittenhouse was defending himself. So, we’ll just consider Prediger to be a victim of circumstances.

And, according to a Newsweek exclusive interview, Prediger certainly sees Rittenhouse for what he is: a self-impressed, dangerously confident, tragically stupid  – “fraud.”

From an excerpt of Newsweek’s interview:

“Objectively, I think he’s an idiot,” Prediger said, with a sigh. “Unfortunately, he is like a poster boy. He is this young, gun-loving Republican who is going on these speaking tours with [Turning Point USA founder and president] Charlie Kirk.

“I think, at the end of the day, he’s a fraud, in the sense of what does Kyle Rittenhouse even know about gun laws, apart from whatever the adults in his life told him? Whether it’s his attorneys or fans or other politicians. I mean, I don’t think the kid has an original thought at all, and [is] parroting what he’s been told. But that’s because this is the only group—you know, right-wing extremists—that will accept him.”

Now, that is extremely well said. It almost makes Rittenhouse sound like the victim that he claims to be while speaking at all these Turning Point USA tours, making himself richer.

Kyle sure does soak up the attention. And yet, we also have to recall that he’s 21 years old. He is still a kid. It is only through God’s grace that I wasn’t handed big money and adoring crowds at age 21. But exactly what does Kyle Rittenhouse have to say about anything? What does Kyle Rittenhouse know that he needs to share?

He has one thing.

He is “special” as a speaker to the extreme right, and it invites a terrifying thought. There are countless 2nd Amendment enthusiasts who could speak on these tours… but maybe the crowds want to hear from a person who did what they, in the dark recesses of their minds, wish they could do – actually fire a gun at liberals in a fight over who is right and who is wrong.

Yes, in that sense, Rittenhouse is a fraud because it’s not about “Rittenhouse,” it’s about the crowds! It is about people who want to hear about using guns. Lauren Boebert talks about guns and shoots them. But Rittenhouse used a gun on liberals. That is what sets him apart to the point where people will pay to hear him speak.

That is the fraud. Rittenhouse thinks it’s all about him. No. It is about what he did and the crowd that maybe wishes they could do the same.

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Jason Miciak is Executive Editor for Political Flare and an Editor at Large for Occupy Democrats. He can be reached at [email protected]