Donald Trump has controversially defended Kyle Rittenhouse, who fatally shot two protesters in Wisconsin.

The President said the 17-year-old self-styled ‘vigilante’, was ‘violently attacked’ and ‘probably would’ve been killed’ if he hadn’t used his gun.

Rittenhouse, obsessed with the police-supporting Blue Lives Matter movement, has been charged with the murder of two people in Kenosha and wounding another.

Trump said: "He was trying to get away from them I guess, it looks like, and he fell, then they very violently attacked him.

“It was something that we are looking at right now and it's under investigation, but I guess he was in very big trouble. He probably would've been killed. It's under investigation.”

Democratic nominee Joe Biden said earlier on Monday: "Fires are burning and we have a president who fans the flames rather than fighting the flames.

“Donald Trump looks at this violence and he sees a political lifeline."

The protests come after 29 year-old black man Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back by police in Kenosha on August 23, and is thought to be paralysed.

Trump is set to travel to the city to acknowledge Jacob Blake and his family but Blake’s father has refused to ‘play politics’ with his son's life ahead of Trump’s visit. 

"I'm not getting into politics. It's all about my son, man. It has nothing to do with a photo op," he told CNN.

Biden added: “He wouldn't even repudiate one of his supporters who is charged with murder because of his attacks on others. 

"He is too weak, too scared of the hatred he has stirred to put an end to it. So once again, I urge the President to join me in saying that while peaceful protest is a right — a necessity — violence is wrong, period. No matter who does it, no matter what political affiliation they have. Period.”