Kyle Rittenhouse slams critics, reveals he’s not accepted ‘one penny’ for recent appearances

"I haven't been offered a penny, and I wouldn't accept a penny because I'm out here taking back my character telling the world who I am and defending myself in the public opinion," Rittenhouse told Fox News host Pete Hegseth.

Rittenhouse said it was "frustrating" to endure the liberal media's smear campaign that labeled the teen "a white supremacist" over the August 2020 shooting deaths of two white Black Lives Matter rioters in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

"It was frustrating, because I knew it was all lies. And I was like, 'There's none of that.' I'm not a white supremacist or a racist, what the media is saying. There's nothing to show that," Rittenhouse said during the Fox News interview.

"It's just disappointing. They're supposed to report the truth and the facts. Yet they're out here lying," Rittenhouse said. On the presidential campaign trail, President Joe Biden also took part in Rittenhouse's character assassination.

Rittenhouse also indicated that he will only see his family at Christmas this year via FaceTime over fears for their safety since the high-profile acquittal:

"We FaceTime on a daily basis but to keep them safe off the grid a little bit so they can still have their freedoms because they're not as easily recognizable as I am."

Rittenhouse spoke with Fox News personality Tucker Carlson in an exclusive interview that was released post-verdict. Last week, Rittenhouse appeared as a guest speaker at the Turning Point USA conference in Phoenix, Arizona.