Watters: Biden's second Rittenhouse statement a different tone because 'puppet masters' intervened
Jesse Watters and the panel on 'The Five' offer analysis
There was a marked difference between President Biden's initial verbal reaction to the Rittenhouse verdict and his printed statement issued later Friday, which raised questions as to whether his handlers convinced him to change his tune, Jesse Watters claimed on "The Five."
While returning to the White House following a scheduled colonoscopy, Biden responded to a reporter's question about whether he still believes 18-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse is a "White supremacist" – as intimated in one of his 2020 campaign ads. The president said he "stand[s] by what the jury has concluded."
"The jury system works and we have to abide by it," Biden said at the time.
Later, Biden released a written statement saying, "While the verdict in Kenosha will leave many Americans feeling angry and concerned, myself included, we must acknowledge that the jury has spoken."
On "The Five", Watters suggested Biden should have halted further reaction to the verdict after his initial, moderate verbal statement, and questioned whether the president truly meant what he said in his written comments.
"I think he should have stopped at that because that was the correct answer -- and then his puppet masters get ahold of him and say, ‘Joe, your base is going to freak out if we don’t condemn this verdict.'"
President Joe Biden leans to hear a reporter's question as he returns to the White House, Friday, Nov. 19, 2021, in Washington, from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) (AP )
"So, they put out this dopey statement where he’s angry all of a sudden."
Watters said Biden didn't appear angry while coming off Marine One and speaking to reporters.
"Then he admits – then he said he hadn’t even followed the trial… Last year he said [Rittenhouse] is a White supremacist. He had never even watched the video of the shooting," the "Watters World" host continued.
Watters claimed part of Biden's problem in the Rittenhouse case is that he did not view the available videos of the incident in 2020 when he had the chance. President Donald Trump reportedly did before he offered his own reaction at the time.
The host added that Biden's statements follow a growing list of other critiques of the verdict, pointing to Harlem, N.Y.-based civil rights activist Al Sharpton commenting that there "continue to be dark days for black people killed at the hands of people that believe our lives do not matter."
Watters noted the three men shot by Rittenhouse were all White men.
Meanwhile, Sharpton's fellow Manhattanite, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler called the verdict a "miscarriage of justice and sets a dangerous precedent."
Nadler went on to suggest that precedent "justifies federal review by the DOJ."
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 28: Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) speaks during a press conference to announce the "Gateway Turnaround" Hudson Tunnel project at Penn Station on June 28, 2021 in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Friday the verdict "is not justice" and suggested it should lead to a discussion about further strengthening the Empire State's already strict gun control laws.
Andrew Cuomo, Hochul's predecessor who resigned earlier this year, declared the verdict a "stain on the soul of America."
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