The polls are closed, the votes have been tallied, and it's official: Reese Witherspoon wins the award for Dumbest Possible Take following the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict.
Witherspoon - whose “Legally Blonde” character went to Harvard Law, but that’s about as much legal expertise as she’s got – went on Twitter to blast the verdict, in which a jury found the 17-year-old not guilty of murder for defending himself against a violent mob after he shot three and killed two during the Kenosha riots in August 2020.
“Woke up this morning thinking about every mother/father/sister/brother/friend who has lost someone to senseless gun violence in America. And then ..there was no justice for their pain. This is a disgrace,” the actress began.
Then it got good. And by “good,” I mean very, very stupid.
“No one should be able to purchase a semi-automatic weapon, cross state lines and kill 2 people, wound another and go free. In what world is this safe ... for any of us?” she blathered on.
There’s just one problem: none of that is true.
Firstly, Rittenhouse, at 17, did not purchase the firearm he used to defend himself against his three attackers. The gun belonged to his dad. So, big fat fail there.
Which brings us to point two. While Rittenhouse primarily lived with his mom just across the state line in Illinois, Rittenhouse’s father lives in Kenosha, just minutes away from where the fatal incident took place. That’s where Rittenhouse was staying at the time, and where he got the gun he took with him to patrol the streets reportedly to defend other people and private property from violent looters.
Based on these very simple and Googleable facts, Witherspoon’s narrative that a teenager was allowed to buy a firearm, travel in from out-of-state and simply start gunning people down with impunity is patently false. But, true to Twitter form, her take is still up and active despite its glaring inaccuracies.
Witherspoon then went on to state, hilariously, “And US representatives and judges who support this recklessness will not be receiving my vote. Ever.”
Funny – I didn’t realize we voted for judges.
(Cover Photo: Eva Rinaldi)