Kyle Rittenhouse Insists Girlfriend Skyler Bergoon 'Not a Gold Digger'

Controversial killer Kyle Rittenhouse, who is trying to raise funds for himself amid legal woes, has hit back at trolls who said his new girlfriend was only with him for his money.

Rittenhouse—who, aged 17, fatally shot two men and wounded a third during riots back in 2020, and was later found not guilty of homicide and attempted homicide—has been keen to share details of his new relationship on social media with posts and photos.

However, the 19-year-old was hit by so many comments branding his girlfriend, Skyler Bergoon, a "gold digger" that he lashed out online and directly addressed the trolls' claims.

"I keep seeing these comments but here is the truth: My girlfriend is not a gold digger," he tweeted late on Sunday night. "We are happy. I actually am facing a lawsuit and the left is trying to drown me financially with legal bills. I have not won any settlements since I have not even filed any lawsuits… yet."

He also hit out at a comment by a Twitter user, who had contacted him about his girlfriend's motives to say: "bruh she a gold digger !!!!" Rittenhouse replied: "What gold?! The civil lawsuit I'm facing?"

The spat came after Rittenhouse had shared Bergoon's tweet featuring a photo of the couple together; Rittenhouse had simply captioned it with three love heart symbols.

His supporters have defended the couple, with some suggesting terms of abuse such as "gold digger" are typical misogynist smears aimed at women. Others claim the term is simply being used as a way to belittle Rittenhouse, or is being bandied about by people jealous of their relationship.

On November 24, Bergoon tweeted: "I pray that those who bully, harass, take advantage, and hurt me and my loved ones will find Jesus."

It's not clear whether she was referring to the online harassment.

Newsweek has reached out to both Rittenhouse and Bergoon for comment.

Rittenhouse, who is a deeply divisive figure and has become something of a poster boy for the hard-right, is currently seeking donations that he says would to enable him to build a legal fund. It comes after he was named as a defendant in a civil lawsuit filed by the parents of Anthony Huber, one of the men Rittenhouse fatally shot.

Rittenhouse from Antioch, Illinois, was previously cleared of charges in November 2021 when a jury found that the shootings were self-defense.

The then-17-year-old had set out armed with a semi-automatic rifle to riots in Kenosha, in the neighboring state of Wisconsin on August 25, 2020. He shot three people, killing Huber, 26, and Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and wounding 26-year-old Gaige Grosskreutz.

The protests had been sparked by the police shooting of a black man, Jacob Blake, who was left paralyzed from the waist down.

Although Rittenhouse and the men he shot were all white, the case polarized Americans on the issues of race, the Black Lives Matter movement, gun control and vigilantism.

Rittenhouse has appeared at various conservative events were he has been lauded as a hero, including one in which he was brought out in front of an audience of young women who were told he was husband material and the "kind of man you should want to be attracted to."

He has been criticized by some who claimed he was making money out of his notoriety and the deaths of the people he shot. His own lawyer alleged he had been used by cynical players who wanted to "whore this kid out for money."

Rittenhouse himself has insisted that he has not financially profited from his situation, and said he was not paid for his appearance on Fox News for a high-profile interview with host Tucker Carlson in 2021.

This summer, Rittenhouse released a video game where players must take on the role of an armed Rittenhouse to shoot "fake news" targets.

Rittenhouse's GiveSendGo fundraiser says he needs $150,000 "to fight back against this despicable, politically motivated attack from the Democrat political machine and anti-Second Amendment groups."

It goes on to state: "All funds raised will be sent directly to Kyle Rittenhouse to help him pay the mounting legal fees, which are likely to be significant."

The fundraiser page also made a reference to trolling, saying: "Kyle and [his mother] Wendy have been battling a seemingly endless barrage of legal attacks, threats to their safety, and online harassment since the day of Kyle's acquittal."

Rittenhouse tweeted about his fundraiser on November 24 and has pinned it to the top of his Twitter page. But he has some way to go until hitting his $150,000 target; as of Monday morning the total stood at just over $18,000.