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Aubrey Huff calls Kenosha shooter 'national treasure', deletes tweet after backlash: 'He supports murderers'

Shooter Kyle Rittenhouse has found support in some conservative quarters, with Ann Coulter even asking him to be her president

Aubrey Huff, who had previously helped lead the San Francisco Giants to two World Series Championships, has been slammed after he praised the 17-year-old gunman who has been charged with murdering two Black Lives Matter protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Kyle Rittenhouse was arrested on a warrant in the neighboring state of Illinois, from where he drove to Kenosha with an AR-15 rifle to shoot at a group of BLM protesters on Tuesday, August 25, and charged with first-degree intentional homicide. But that didn't stop Huff, who regularly spouts incendiary, misogynistic, and xenophobic opinions on social media, from calling him a "national treasure."

In a tweet that he posted on Wednesday night that was liked more than 2,700 times and re-tweeted more than 1,000 times, the former baseball player wrote, "KyleRittenhouse is a national treasure." Social media users were less than amused, with many calling for Twitter to ban him for violating the platform's policies. "Hey @Twitter," one user posted alongside a screenshot of Huff's tweet. "'We also prohibit the glorification of violence. Glorifying violent acts could inspire others to take part in similar acts of violence.' It would seem based on your policy Aubrey Huff is deserving of a time-out, don’t you think?"

Another highlighted how this was not the first time Huff had said something incredibly controversial and eyebrow-raising and that he was nothing less than a "psychopath." "Aubrey Huff is trending again, so I’ll do my thing and remind everyone that he fantasizes about kidnapping and enslaving women “amongst other things”. Now he supports murderers, this man is a psychopath," they wrote.

"Aubrey Huff is a psychopath and so is anyone who agrees with him. Normal people do not celebrate murder," another similarly added.

"Aubrey Huff is a national disgrace, advocates cold-blooded murder and should be banned from Twitter right along with Tucker Carlson," a third wrote, referring to how the Fox News host had suggested people should not be surprised by Rittenhouse's actions were okay because the "people in charge from the governor of Wisconsin on down refused to enforce the law."

"When I'm around small children and avoiding saying curse words I like to substitute "Aubrey Huff" instead of saying "Holy f****** shit you are such a f****** bastard of a poor excuse for a human being". It's both effective and time saving."

"Aubrey. You're a racist. A gigantic P**sy hiding behind your keyboard. Whatever karma has waiting for you, you deserve it."

"You’re a true piece of shit and the only reason you say this stuff on Twitter is because you know you’d get taxed on the streets. Enjoy your following, son. One day Twitter will be gone and he will have nothing except a ring from a team that pretends you don’t exist," wrote one, referring to how Huff was snubbed from the Giants’ 10-year World Series reunion in February.

After the backlash, Huff deleted his tweets but he's not the only one to have come out in support of Rittenhouse since the horrific shootings. Far-right media pundit Ann Coulter had been similarly slammed after saying she wanted the teen as her president.