MSNBC host compares Buffalo supermarket shooter to Kyle Rittenhouse
One user wrote that 'this is what happens when Kyle Rittenhouse is the hero and Colin Kaepernick is the villain'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}MSNBC host and legal contributor Katie Phang compared white supremacist shooter Payton Gendron, who attacked shoppers at a Buffalo supermarket on Saturday, to Kyle Rittenhouse in a brief same-day tweet.
The comparison came after The Suburban Women Problem podcast co-host Rachel Vindman tweeted a jab at former President Donald Trump's Florida retreat Mar-a-Lago, posing the rhetorical question of how long it will take before the the Buffalo shooter appears on the premises to "party."
A person walks past the scene of a shooting at a supermarket, in Buffalo, N.Y., Sunday, May 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
"How long until the Buffalo shooter is partying at Mar-a-Lago?" she wrote.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Phang chimed in minutes later, adding, "with Kyle Rittenhouse," referring to accusations that the then 17-year-old who fatally shot protesters at a 2020 protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin did not act in self-defense while doubling down on rhetoric implying that he committed a hate crime similar to Gendron's.
BUFFALO SHOOTING SUSPECT PAYTON GENDRON ‘HAD PLANS TO CONTINUE HIS ATTACK,’ POLICE COMMISSIONER SAYS
Payton Gendron appears during his arraignment in Buffalo City Court, Saturday, May 14, 2022, in Buffalo, N.Y. (Mark Mulville/The Buffalo News via AP)
Reactions poured in on the thread, with commenters condemning the comparison in light of Saturday's tragic event and slamming Phang for perpetrating allegations toward someone who was acquitted in court.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Other commenters noted that Gendron was never chased in the street or forced to act in self-defense as Kyle Rittenhouse's jury indicated of his Kenosha encounter.
Phang's rhetoric echoes sentiments from other leftist Twitter users and media outlets, however, including comedian and talk show host Chip Franklin, who shared an image of officers arresting Gendron with the caption, "This is what happens when we make Kyle Rittenhouse the hero and Colin Kaepernick the villain."
Attorney and Mainstreet Law founder Tristan Snell followed suit on the Kyle Rittenhouse comparison on Sunday, writing, "Remember when we said that acquitting Kyle Rittenhouse would embolden the next Kyle Rittenhouse to be far worse? Yeah."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Snell also alleged that a correlation exists between the shooter's concerns about falling White birth rates and the Supreme Court's leaked draft opinion that could potentially overturn Roe v. Wade if finalized.
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"The Buffalo shooter's manifesto focuses on "White birth rates." The Supreme Court's opinion overturning Roe cites the "domestic supply of infants." This is not a coincidence," he tweeted the day before.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Occupy Democrats doubled down on the population narrative, arguing that Gendron was "motivated" to commit the hate crime because of the "white replacement theory" allegedly pushed by Trump.
Additional leftist voices, including Rolling Stone Magazine and The Huffington Post, alleged Republicans motivated the shooter to commit atrocities in the name of white supremacy.