Kyle Rittenhouse becomes key figure in Trump world

Since he was acquitted of homicide and other charges last Friday, Kyle Rittenhouse has said he wanted to stay out of politics, and that he was disturbed by how his case became politicized.

“How polarized it became is absolutely sickening: Right or left, people using me for a cause that should never have been used as a cause,” the 18-year-old said earlier this week. 

Yet Rittenhouse, who argued he was acting in self defense when he fatally shot two people during protests last year in Kenosha, Wisconsin, has emerged as a symbolic figure for the pro-Trump right wing as the former president considers running again and wields power by issuing endorsements in various Republican primary races. 

Some prominent conservatives have worked to make a hero out of Rittenhouse, who was armed with an AR-15-style rifle on the streets of Kenosha during protests that sprung up after the police shooting of Black man Jacob Blake. Rittenhouse made the comments about politics and polarization on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show, which had a crew embedded with the Rittenhouse team during his trial. He has appeared alongside Republican operatives in photos, and he met with Donald Trump himself at the former president’s private Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

One key figure in Rittenhouse’s post-acquittal life is Jillian Anderson, a former Fox News guest booker who once was a contestant on “The Bachelor.” A former cheerleader for the team now known as the Washington Football Team, she is currently a self-employed booker, producer, publicist and director of communications, according to her LinkedIn page.

Anderson was photographed next to Rittenhouse at a Florida restaurant after he was acquitted. She was also pictured in another group that included Carlson and subsequent other photos. Almost all of these pictures have been posted on Anderson’s social media pages.

“I’m working with the team,” Anderson told CNBC in a Twitter message after she was asked about her role with Rittenhouse. She then requested that CNBC email her. Since then, Anderson has yet to respond to multiple requests for comment.

Mark Richards, an attorney for Rittenhouse, told CNBC “I never met w/ or spoke to Jillian Anderson.”

Anderson has been linked to Trump and his conservative allies for years. She recently was paid over $10,000 for media relations consulting by a political action committee backing Josh Mandel’s Ohio Senate campaign, according to Federal Election Commission records reviewed by CNBC. The committee is called Team Josh and has paid Anderson for what’s described as “media relations consulting.” Anderson posted a split screen photo on her Twitter page this week of herself, alongside another featuring Mandel holding up a laptop. Mandel has