Lawyer and "The View" co-host Sunny Hostin compared high-profile murder trial defendant Alex Murdaugh to Kyle Rittenhouse, the young man acquitted of homicide charges after killing two men and injuring another in self-defense at a riot in Kenosha, Wisconsin in 2020.
Hostin rationalized the unusual comparison, saying that Murdaugh, a disbarred attorney, may have made the decision to testify in his own murder trial because he saw fellow "wealthy white guy" Rittenhouse do it in 2021 and get off.
She told her co-hosts during the Friday episode of the ABC talk show that Murdaugh’s testimony brought "to mind Kyle Rittenhouse, who testified on his behalf and got off. My only question is after testifying does he get off?"
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Murdaugh took the stand during his trial Thursday as part of his defense against charges that he murdered his wife and his son in 2021.
Unraveling her theory, Hostin began with the observation that it was unusual for Murdaugh to testify during the trial. The co-host said, "But he testified, and the first thing you learn in criminal law is never testify as the defendant because prosecutors train to do it."
Citing her own legal experience, Hosting continued, saying, "I mean I’ve only had the pleasure of cross-examining maybe three defendants and you live for it." She added, "And he gets up there and he admits to being a liar. So are you telling the truth now or are you telling the truth then? It was a classic something that you would see on television."
Probing his testimony further, Hostin added, "He admits to being addicted. He also used the term, ‘I would never have intentionally done anything.’ Well maybe you did it while you were high on whatever opioids you used to take."
She declared, "He really harmed himself, I think, in his testimony."
Hostin then made the comparison to Rittenhouse, and brought race into it, suggesting that both men’s power and supposed privilege as wealthy White guys led to both of them thinking they could get off on the charges.
She continued, "And so when you have this rich, wealthy White guy, dynasty member testifying and thinking that he can get off, I think we want to know as armchair detectives, does the system really work?"
The co-host said, "It did bring to mind Kyle Rittenhouse, who testified on his own behalf and got off. And so my only question is, after testifying, does he get off?"
