The allegations against Rittenhouse perfectly fit a dominant narrative within the corporate press: that there is nothing more dangerous than white men. This belief overshadowed the facts on the ground, coloring the resulting coverage and forcing it into rhetorical boxes that never quite fit, particularly around Trump and race.

After Trump refused to condemn him, NPR told us that the president had claimed “without evidence” that Rittenhouse acted in self-defense. MSNBC’s Joy Reid suggested that Trump’s comments amounted to “fomenting deadly violence” and “ethnic cleansing.”

“Fact checkers” weighed in along similar lines. The Associated Press told us that Trump’s assertion that Rittenhouse fled his attackers—something captured on video—was wrong and slammed him for advocating “in defense of someone who opposed racial justice protesters.”

The Pulitzer Prize-winning PolitiFact claimed that Trump had lied when he said Rittenhouse had been pursued by a mob and was attacked. Both claims were supported at the time by video evidence. The inaccurate fact check is still online.