Sandmann, who was also called a racist and a white supremacist when he was faced by a Native American activist in 2019, told Fox News's Sean Hannity Friday that being slammed by the media "unfortunately makes you grow up in a lot of ways."
"I think he should sue the media, but it's really a personal call that's up to him," said Sandmann, who recently settled defamation lawsuits with CNN and the Washington Post and has six more in the works. "In January, it will be three years since everything happened at the March for Life, and I'm still looking at another two years until the cases that go to trial are resolved, so it's really a personal call."
Sandmann said that while he would like to see Rittenhouse sue President Joe Biden for calling him a white supremacist on the campaign trail, he does not "think Kyle's in the case where he can be making lawsuits just to see what happens."
Sandmann was 16 when the media firestorm targeted him, while Rittenhouse was 17 when he fatally shot two men and injured one man during riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Rittenhouse, now 18, pleaded not guilty, claiming that he acted in self-defense, and a jury cleared him on all five charges Friday.
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"It's terrible, Sean … As a 17-year-old in Kyle's case and mine 16, your mind is still developing. So to deal with an overload of stress where you have this feeling that half of the country; hundreds of millions of people; hate you for something that you are innocent of – but how you are painted can do a lot to you mentally," he said.
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"To deal with this overload of stress where you feel like half of the country, hundreds of millions of people, hate you for something you were innocent of [...] can do a lot to you mentally," Sandmann told Hannity. "It takes a very strong will to be able to resist that and keep a level head, and I know that Kyle is probably dealing with that right now."
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Fox News host Sean Hannity stressed that Sandmann's and Rittenhouse's experiences with the media are very similar. The Kentucky student told the host that he is still actively suing six outlets based on various defamation or libel-related allegations.
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