Madison Cawthorn offers Rittenhouse an internship

Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) offered Kyle Rittenhouse an internship on Friday after the 18-year-old was found not guilty on all five of the charges he was facing for shooting and killing two protesters and wounding a third during demonstrations in Kenosha, Wis., last summer. 

“Kyle, if you want an internship, reach out to me,” Cawthorne wrote in text the was shown during a video published Friday after the verdict was reached. 

“Kyle Rittenhouse is not guilty, my friends. You have a right to defend yourself, so be armed, be dangerous and be moral,” Cawthorne says in the video. 

Rittenhouse was acquitted after his lawyers argued he had used his AR-15 in self-defense as protesters attacked him.

Prosecutors said Rittenhouse was the aggressor in the situation and couldn’t claim self-defense.

This is the second internship offer Rittenhouse has received from a Republican member of Congress: Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) previously offered the teen a congressional internship on Wednesday, before the jury returned its verdict. 

“He is not guilty and deserves a not guilty verdict,” Gaetz said at the time. “You know what, Kyle Rittenhouse would probably make a pretty good congressional intern. We might reach out to him and see if he be interested in helping the country in additional ways.”

A number of conservatives have publicly celebrated the unanimous jury decision.