CBS News tweet says Kyle Rittenhouse 'testified' he 'murdered two men' — and the network deletes 'straight up libelous' tweet amid brutal backlash

Readers angrily called out CBS News for rendering its own verdict Thursday in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial by saying the defendant "testified" that he "murdered two men" amid protests and rioting in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last year.

While Rittenhouse has been charged with two counts of intentional homicide, he has pleaded not guilty and is arguing he acted in self-defense when he fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber in August 2020.

Both Fox News and Mediaite reported that CBS News deleted its initial tweet.

But the internet is forever — and below is an image of the tweet in question, which reads, "Kyle Rittenhouse testified in his murder trial yesterday, breaking down in tears as he told the jury he murdered two men at a Black Lives Matter protest last year in self-defense."

Becket Adams of the Washington Examiner offered a terse response to it:

Adams followed up reaction with a post just six minutes later saying CBS News "deleted" its problematic tweet "and re-wrote it." The apparent new tweet reads "killed two men" instead of "murdered two men."

But criticism over the network's blunder didn't end there.

Brutal backlash

• "Again, a lot of Rittenhouse coverage and commentary is straight up libelous," Mark Hemingway, senior writer at RealClearInvestigations, tweeted about the network's "murdered two men" faux pas.
• "When you could just report the story straight but you jump at the chance to put it in a lawsuit-worthy frame instead," journalist Virginia Kruta observed.
• "Oh, well, then. No need for trials, CBS News has delivered its verdict!" Dan McLaughlin of National Review Online declared.

Others heartily agreed:

• "Wow it's article after article of blatant misinformation and outright lies," one commenter added. "Different agencies and publications like an organized effort to railroad this kid."
• "Apparently the plan is to continue with these inflammatory lies until a dam breaks and widespread violence breaks out," another user opined. "Imagine the top-down control they'll claim is necessary to quell massive civil unrest."
• "In 2021 you are not convicted by a jury of your peers but by a set of semi-anonymous 'elite' 'journalists' / social media managers who hate you," another commenter said.
• "Somebody obviously forgot what happened after the media falsely accused that youngster from Covington Catholic in KY," another user offered. "Apparently CBS has deep enough pockets that they won't have a problem settling with Kyle Rittenhouse for millions, too."

Anything else?

The Rittenhouse trial has been atop the news cycle this week.

Wendy Rittenhouse, the defendant's mother, said in a Thursday interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity that President Joe Biden "defamed" her son by suggesting he's a white supremacist. Joy Behar, far-left co-host of "The View," on Thursday mocked Rittenhouse's courtroom testimony — during which he sobbed uncontrollably at one point — as "one of thew worst acting jobs I've ever seen." NBA superstar LeBron James also made fun of Rittenhouse's testimony in a tweet to his 50 million followers — but paid for it with scathing pushback from commenters.