MAGA Rages at Kyle Rittenhouse for Not Backing Trump: 'Disloyal'

Kyle Rittenhouse has faced backlash from MAGA supporters after announcing he will not be voting for Donald Trump in the upcoming 2024 election.

Rittenhouse, who gained national attention after being acquitted of the murders of two individuals he shot during civil unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August 2020, has stated that his decision to not support Trump is due to the former president’s stance on the Second Amendment. Rittenhouse criticized Trump for not being sufficiently strong on gun rights and announced he will write in former GOP Congressman Ron Paul on his ballot.

In a video shared on social media, Rittenhouse expressed his discontent: "Unfortunately, Donald Trump had poor advisers, which led him to be weak on the Second Amendment. This is my main issue. If you can't be unwavering on the Second Amendment, then I cannot vote for you. I will write in someone else. We need strong advocates for the Second Amendment to prevent our rights from being gradually eroded."

Trump supporters have since accused Rittenhouse of being "disloyal" to the former president. Becca Buono expressed her disapproval on X (formerly Twitter), stating, "I have zero respect for a 'sellout.' When someone allows money to cloud their judgment and betrays those who have supported their cause, they deserve to be EXPOSED."

Another user, @SirStevenKJ, lamented: "I regret ever supporting Kyle. He's outright lying about Trump. There are only two choices: Trump or Kamala Harris. Kyle has chosen to betray his country and those who supported him. It will be interesting to see him try to make amends at Mar-a-Lago in a few months."

Nick Sortor, an independent journalist known for his appearances on right-wing news platforms, suggested that Rittenhouse's announcement was "a desperate attempt for attention."

Joey Mannarino, a prominent pro-Trump figure with over 494,000 followers on X, added: "Just unfollowed you. Without MAGA, you'd be in prison right now. MAGA raised enormous amounts of money for you. Trump welcomed you into his home. This is how you repay him and the MAGA movement after all those years of support?"

Rittenhouse was acquitted of murder charges in 2021 following the shooting deaths of Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber during a Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha. At the time, Rittenhouse, who was 17, claimed he was defending himself from an aggressive mob amid the unrest triggered by the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man.

After his acquittal, Rittenhouse met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and subsequently became a prominent figure on right-wing media, where he was celebrated as a defender of Second Amendment rights and self-defense.

In a follow-up post on X, Rittenhouse emphasized the need to hold all politicians to the same standards, sharing a graphic detailing Trump’s record on the Second Amendment and his past support for certain gun control measures. These included the ban on bump stocks, which was implemented after the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting and later overturned by the Supreme Court in June. Trump had also supported "red flag" laws, which would allow for the removal of firearms from individuals deemed a threat to themselves or others, in an effort to curb mass shootings.