MSNBC pundit Joy Reid drew a comparison between Kyle Rittenhouse’s emotional testimony during his murder trial last week and the outburst from Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his Senate confirmation hearings in 2018.
“It reminded a lot of people of something … oh, the Brett Kavanaugh hearing,” Reid said of video from Rittenhouse’s trial this week.
Kavanaugh “cried his way through the hearings” Reid said, as he looked to become “permanent member and associate justice of the Supreme Court.”
“And his [Kavanaugh’s] tears turned out to be more powerful than the tears of Christine Blasey Ford [his accuser],” Reid continued. “But in America, there’s a thing about both white vigilantism and white tears, particularly male white tears. Really white tears in general, because, that’s what karens are, right?”
Kavanaugh, after being nominated to the court by then-President Trump, was accused of sexual misconduct by Blasey Ford, a high school classmate, and gave an impassioned denial of the woman’s account before the congressional body conducting his confirmation hearings. The episode galvanized conservatives who saw the accusation as a political attack and a cultural flashpoint.
“Over the past few days, other false and uncorroborated accusations have been aired. There has been a frenzy to come up with something — anything, no matter how far-fetched or odious — that will block a vote on my nomination,” Kavanaugh said at the time. “The consequences extend beyond any one nomination. Such grotesque and obvious character assassination — if allowed to succeed — will dissuade competent and good people of all political persuasions from serving our country.”
Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court days later.
Rittenhouse faces several charges, including felony intentional murder after shooting and killing two people in Kenosha, Wis. during civil unrest following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man.
“There were three people right there,” Rittenhouse said, breaking down in sobs as he described being chased by one of the people he shot.
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” he later said after the judge presiding over the case called a recess so the 18-year-old could collect himself. “I defended myself.”
Many conservatives have rallied around Rittenhouse, whose case they see as one that is indicative of the future of self-defense laws and gun rights in America.