Kyle Rittenhouse isn’t a name any of us should remember. First, what happened to him never should have happened, so he shouldn’t have had to defend himself. He did, though, which should have been immediately acknowledged and him be allowed to go on with his life.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen and, as a result, Rittenhouse became famous and someone who can raise a stink when a lawmaker is trying to do something stupid.

Which he did when a Texas Republican offered up a bill that would bar adults under the age of 21 from buying certain firearms. They’re already barred from handguns, but this goes beyond that, and the Kenosha Kid had a problem with it.

So far, all’s good.

Then Newsweek decided to cover it, and maybe it’s just me, but this doesn’t look fair and balanced.

Acquitted gun killer Kyle Rittenhouse has lashed out at a Texas state representative over his stance on AR-15 legislation.

Republican Justin Holland wants to raise the age when people can purchase the semi-automatic rifle from 18 to 21 in the state. Rittenhouse became known the world over when he fatally shot two people and injured a third in 2020 at the age of 17, after traveling from his home in Illinois armed with an AR-15-style rifle to Kenosha, Wisconsin during a racial justice protest.

“Gun killer Kyle Rittenhouse” is a hell of a way to describe an ordinary citizen, don’t you think?

I mean, it’s not untrue, but it also goes right off and paints Kyle in a negative light.

Of course, then we have the whole thing about traveling from Illinois to Wisconsin, which has been a favorite talking point of those who have sought to condemn Rittenhouse for defending himself.

Apparently, you’re only allowed to defend yourself in your home state.

But that’s not all.

The reporter–who specializes in entertainment and pop culture, which doesn’t explain why she’s covering this, a political story, unless Kyle’s considered “pop culture” or something–notes that she reached out to Holland for comment.

There’s no such indication she tried to reach out to Rittenhouse.

Oh, she’s got Holland’s extensive comments from a campaign event to compare with a post from Rittenhouse on X, but she still doesn’t appear to have reached out to Rittenhouse at all, even via X.

So Newsweek tried to paint Rittenhouse as some kind of hardened killer, then reaches out to get more from the other guy in this dispute and was perfectly happy to just stick with Rittenhouse’s public comments without seeking anything else.

At best, this is bad writing. I suppose it’s possible the reporter reached out to Rittenhouse and then failed to mention it, which makes it bad writing.

But we also know that Newsweek isn’t overall a big fan of gun rights. They have a long history of biased coverage of gun issues and outside of the op-ed section, there’s nary a hint of any support of the constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms.

It might be bad writing but it’s more likely to be a case of bad journalism.

Newsweek should do better.