Why Black Rifle Coffee Threw Kyle Rittenhouse Under The Bus

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Black Rifle Coffee Company, a staple of conservative consumerism, has been exposed as yet another soulless grifting operation run by people with no serious attachment to the pro-2nd Amendment, patriotic stances they use to appeal to their audience.

On Saturday a drama unfolded between BRCC and The Blaze after reporter Elijah Schaffer, host of the network’s “Slightly Offens*ve” podcast, tweeted a picture of Kyle Rittenhouse wearing a BRCC shirt. Schaffer captioned the image “Kyle Rittenhouse drinks the best coffee in America” and put a discount code for the coffee under the tweet.

Rittenhouse is the 17-year-old who defended himself against anarchist rioters in Kenosha, Wisconsin, during another round of “protesting” racism by burning down American cities in late August. Several videos show his attempts to flee anarchists on two separate occasions before being forced into self defense. All three men shot by Rittenhouse turned out to be violent criminals, one a pedophile. 

Despite video evidence showing that he had obviously acted within his rights, Rittenhouse was charged with first degree murder and only released from jail a few days ago when his $2 million bail was raised with the help of My Pillow founder Mike Lindell and actor Ricky Schroder.

A spokesman for BRCC, which brands itself as a patriotic, pro-2A, pro-military, and pro-police coffee company with a tough, outdoors aesthetic, took offense at the association and initially stated that they would be ending their ad sponsorship of the podcast. She later clarified that this was not the case and the matter had been sorted out between the two parties. Schaffer’s tweet was deleted.

A statement on the company’s website attempts to qualify their disavowal by stating that they “do not support legal advocacy efforts” and have no relationship with Rittenhouse, whom they refer to as “the 17-year-old facing charges in Kenosha, WI” and do not even mention by name (though he is named in the video by Hafer).

BRCC’s attempt to remain aloof reeks even more when contrasted with a publicity stunt they pulled last year, when a Starbucks employee in Oklahoma wrote “Pig” on a police officer’s cup. BRCC founders Evan Hafer and Mat Best were able to make a show of their donation to the police department through Fox News, which was happy to promote their generosity.

Founder and CEO Evan Hafer recorded a video which is also posted on the company’s site. In it he states in his video that he has “zero interest in collecting one dollar” from the Rittenhouse “tragedy.” It is apparent that his real interest is in collecting millions of dollars from a conservative audience by an aesthetic appeal to being pro Second Amendment, but when a real case of institutional persecution against a citizen exercising his rights emerges, all of that clout and profit cannot be put on the line.

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Hafer, who is Jewish, is former military, having served in the special forces and as a contractor with the CIA. A screenshot of his twitter shows that the account liked at least two comments attacking Rittenhouse, calling him a “larp warrior dweeb” and a “wannabe douchebag.” A recent review of his account found he appears to have unliked the comments.

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Meanwhile, a twitter user dug up Hafer’s FEC receipts, which show that he donated to anti-gun Democratic politician Tulsi Gabbard in 2019. In 2008, “Evan Hafer” is also recorded as having donated to Obama for America. The Gabbard donation is clearly Hafer, as the employer is listed as “Black Rifle Coffee Company.” The Obama donation lists the occupation as “Advisor” for the Department of Defense, and it is not clear that this is the same person. It is worth noting, however, that either way, Hafer defended against the allegation not by saying that part of the record was someone else, but by calling it photoshop, which is impossible and anyone can check the website for themselves.   

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This saga reveals yet again that ‘conservatism’ is not an ideal, it’s a marketing brand, where both politicians and salesmen craft an aesthetic of rugged patriotism but have no intention of ever putting their comfortable careers on the line when an actual fight arises.

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