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Kara Cooney: Nat Geo author slammed for making fake claims about Kyle Rittenhouse

'Consider Kyle Rittenhouse, who used his semiautomatic weapon to kill two Black men in Kenosha,' a line in her recent book reads

National Geographic author and Egyptologist Kara Cooney was heavily criticized online after falsely claiming that Kyle Rittenhouse killed "two Black men" in her new book 'The Good Kings,' which covers ancient Egyptian history. 

"Consider Kyle Rittenhouse, who used his semiautomatic weapon to kill two Black men in Kenosha, Wisconsin while waging a glorious war on behalf of his inherited White power," a line in the book reads. On the night of August 25, 2020, Rittenhouse shot three White men in Kenosha, killing two. The deceased were identified as Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber. In November, a jury concluded the teen shot the “White men” in self-defense and found Rittenhouse not guilty on all charges.

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'She’s not the brightest and it shows'

One America News Network's Kara McKinney posted a screenshot of the book's page containing the false claim. "I’m literally wheezing this is so funny this is the last chapter of 'Good Kings' by Egyptologist Kara Cooney. I’ll say this delicately… she’s not the brightest and it shows," McKinney tweeted. Cooney replied to the tweet with an apology for the error, explaining it wasn't caught before publishing. "Yes. This was my mistake. And caught too late for printing. Apologies. I stand by the sentiment of white supremacy, however," Cooney tweeted in response.

In her tweet, McKinney also corrected another Cooney error regarding the historical story of Rosa Parks. "Another error: Rosa Parks did not sit in white section of bus. She refused to give up seat to a white passenger when the white section filled up. You’d think @NatGeo would have better editors?" she tweeted. 

'This book is fiction, right?'

People online were quick to blast McKinney for her errors. "Wait, this is a history book by an actual Egyptologist published by National Geographic and no one caught that mistake before printing it?" One of them said, while another noted, "Just shelve it next to all the southern history books that say the civil war was fought over 'state rights.' We can call it the fictional history section. Tucker Carlson can have his own shelf talker."

A third commented, "Growing up in a blue collar family, I assumed educated people were thoughtful and reliable. The magnitude of errors (usually driven by ideology) by professors, blue checkmarks, etc has been eye-opening." The next remarked, "This woman has a job as a writer?" One more added, "@NatGeo care to comment on why you're allowing libel written by @KaraCooney to be published? Might want to get your legal team on standby." A commenter tweeted, "Well, she is just a mummy expert." A person reacted with, "This book is fiction, right?"

Who is Kara Cooney?

According to Square Space, Dr Kathlyn (Kara) Cooney is a professor of Egyptian Art and Architecture at UCLA. She specializes in craft production, coffin studies, and economies in the ancient world. Cooney received her PhD in Egyptology from Johns Hopkins University. She was the co-curator of Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 2005. Cooney produced a comparative archaeology television series, 'Out of Egypt,' which aired in 2009 on the Discovery Channel. 

Her latest book, 'The Good Kings: Absolute Power in Ancient Egypt and the Modern World,' Kara does a deep-dive into five ancient Egyptian pharaohs - Khufu, Senwosret III, Akenhaten, Ramses II, and Taharqa. The book will be released in late 2021. Another book released in 2018 was titled 'When Women Ruled the World: Six Queens of Egypt,' which explores the lives of six remarkable female pharaohs, from Hatshepsut to Cleopatra. She currently resides in Los Angeles with her husband Remy Hiramoto.