(Ben Sellers, Headline USA) NBC News appeared to brazenly libel Wisconsin freedom fighter Kyle Rittenhouse in a recent story about how he had been bitten by a spider.
In a May 7 post that still remained visible as of Monday, the supposedly sane step-parent of MS Now wrote, “Kyle Rittenhouse, who gained fame for opening fire at a 2020 civil rights rally in Wisconsin, was hospitalized after he was bitten by a venomous spider, the noted firearms enthusiast says.”
Kyle Rittenhouse, who gained fame for opening fire at a 2020 civil rights rally in Wisconsin, was hospitalized after he was bitten by a venomous spider, the noted firearms enthusiast says. https://t.co/TXavJpuZcO
— NBC News (@NBCNews) May 8, 2026
But as critics, including Not the Bee’s Harris Rigby, observed, this was a gross distortion of the facts.
“Rittenhouse was clearly acquitted by a jury of his peers because the evidence pointed to lawful self defense, which makes me wonder how close this NBC News headline comes to slander!” he wrote.
Slander is the spoken-word form of defamation, while libel is the written-word form.
A court of law determined, following Rittenhouse’s high-profile trial the then 17-year-old had acted in self defense when he opened fire on Antifa rioters after being chased down by the violent mob, hit with a skateboard and threatened with deadly force in August 2020.
Rittenhouse, according to his own testimony, had been invited to Kenosha, Wis., by the owner of a car dealership to protect the premises during multi-day riots that followed the non-fatal police shooting of Jacob Blake, who had attempted to stab officers engaged in a routine traffic stop.
Two of the assailants, Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, were killed. Another, Gaige Grosskreutz, 26, was shot in the arm. All three had criminal records.
Rosenbaum, a registered sex offender, had previously pled guilty to charges of child molestation and sexual conduct with minors involving five boys (ages 9–11) — including acts of anal rape, oral sex, masturbation and showing pornography.
Huber was convicted on charges of domestic abuse (including strangulation and suffocation), false imprisonment and reckless endangerment stemming from threats individuals including his own brother and grandmother.
Grosskreutz, who would go on to tearfully play the victim on the witness stand, had been convicted on charges of intoxicated use of a firearm, burglary, trespassing, vandalism, disorderly conduct and drunken driving, as well as juvenile offenses that were sealed. Media claimed at the time of the trial that he was there as an on-site medic to render first aid.
In addition to its mischaracterization of the violent and destructive riot as a “civil rights rally,” NBC News’s article went on to call the assault on Rittenhouse a “melee.”
The article acknowledged Rittenhouse’s acquittal and argument of self-defense, but maintained a clearly skeptical tone while offering no context about his assailants.
Rigby noted that it was the latest in a longstanding pattern of left-wing media lies and extreme bias.
“Your regular reminder that the mainstream media is, in fact, the enemy of the people,” he wrote.
Both of NBC News’s leading competitors, ABC and CBS, have face accountability for past lies against President Donald Trump.
ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos forced the network to shell out $16 million (including legal fees) over a false claim that Trump had been convicted of rape in the E. Jean Carroll trial.
Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS News, also agreed to a $16 million settlement in a lawsuit over a deceptively edited interview that 60 Minutes doctored to make then-Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris appear more favorable.
Both of the settlements were earmarked to go to Trump’s presidential library.
Rittenhouse previously considered suing outlets for defamation following the feeding frenzy that surrounded his trial. Although he hired Todd McMurtry, who had represented the successful defamation lawsuits on behalf of MAGA-hat teen Nick Sandmann, nothing ever came of the lawsuits.
In order to win a libel case, Rittenhouse would likely need to establish falsity with actual malice or willful negligence (a higher standard for public figures than that afforded most private citizens). He also must prove actual damages as the result of the spurious claims.
A lawsuit against NBC News may not rise to the level of damages, however, since much of the backlash on the May 7 post was calling out the network itself.
As X user David Knudsen wrote, “I’m just here for the ratio” — an online term for when the critics of a post vastly outnumber those liking and re-sharing the anteceding post.
I'm just here for the ratio.
— David Knudsen (@Impalanar) May 8, 2026
The latest addition to the Rittenhouse saga occurred after the now 23-year-old, who works as chief firearms instructor and director of partnerships for Texas Gun Rights, posted a picture of himself in the hospital with a brown-recluse spider bite.
The communists couldn't take me out and i'll be damned if I let a brown recluse take me out. pic.twitter.com/75xSoshhdv
— Kyle Rittenhouse 🇺🇸 (@rittenhouse2a) May 6, 2026
He received messages of support from high-profile followers including Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and conservative pundit Jack Posobiec.
But several left-wing users responded with comments attempting to body-shame Rittenhouse or to endorse violence against him.
“Good to know the spider understood its assignment,” wrote one.
Good to know the spider understood its assignment. pic.twitter.com/OHPpmByfF6
— Not your mom (@CovingtonL10985) May 6, 2026
According to Rittenhouse himself, the spider did not survive the confrontation.
The spider, like the commies, also thought it was a good idea to come after me while I was armed.
He did not survive. pic.twitter.com/uKSVMDP6gQ
— Kyle Rittenhouse 🇺🇸 (@rittenhouse2a) May 7, 2026
Ben Sellers is a freelance writer and former editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/realbensellers.
