Actor Jussie Smollett’s trial for faking his own racial attack enters day two in Chicago, and Democrats have a little explaining to do.
Smollett is fighting charges that he staged his own racial attack in 2019 and then lied about it to the police. He could receive a three-year sentence in prison, but no one really believes that the former star of the TV show Empire will be locked up. Fame has its privileges. White lady and fellow actor Felicity Huffman will have spent more time in jail than Smollett likely ever will. And she lied to college administrators, not cops.
Smollett — or as comedian Dave Chappelle calls him, that great French actor Joosie Smoolyay — may have more trouble getting back into the good graces of all the Democrats in Hollywood and Washington, D.C. who bought his story.
And what a story. Joosie took a walk at 2 a.m. to grab a sandwich in subzero Chicago weather and got jumped by two men who wore red Trump MAGA hats, at least one of whom was white. They beat him in a spot on the street that apparently had no CCTV cameras, splashed him with bleach, yelled anti-black and gay slurs, and told him “this is MAGA country,” whereupon they put a noose around his neck. Smollett walked back to his luxe home and he called the police, where they found the actor with a partially eaten Subway sandwich and a rope around his neck.
If this were a true story it would be horrible indeed, but one must suspend all disbelief to buy this agitprop. That’s exactly what it was. Democrats lapped it up. The “attack” came just days after Smollett reported that an anonymous racist mailed him a threat, which the Postal Service decided he’d sent to himself. It seems Jussie was looking for more money from Empire producers and thought he’d get himself a little free anti-Trump bona fides while playing the victim. It was a Democrat twofer.
And the Democrat Hollywood and political class bought this pap hook, line, and sinker. Journalist Andy Ngo rolled out on his Twitter feed in order to remind us all of who amplified Smollett’s “attempted modern-day lynching,” as then-Senator Kamala Harris darkly warned at the time.
As Ngo points out, Harris wasn’t the only one who lapped up this dumb story that was too good to check.
Black Lives Matter and anti-cop activist DeRay Mckesson, who fanned the conflagration in Ferguson, Miss. in 2014, piled on along with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. She denounced the fake attack, wished for his speedy recovery from the non-attack, and ardently wished that “justice [would be] served.” People wishing for “justice to be served” are probably wishing those words didn’t come from their lips now that Jussie is facing charges in court.
The most powerful female politician in the US @SpeakerPelosi was quick to describe the alleged attack on #JussieSmollett as an “affront to our humanity,” even before the facts were known. https://t.co/zwB0Meq8FV pic.twitter.com/A41xMehLWE
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) February 15, 2019
The NAACP weighed in and blamed President Trump for the attack due to his “racist and xenophobic rhetoric,” which, as we all know, had nothing to do with Joosie making it all up.
But Congressman Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) bought into the premise. He blamed President Trump for the attack and for the “conspiracy theory” that Smollett’s fake attack was literally unbelievable.
Illinois Congressman @RepBobbyRush (D) rushed to judgement early on, highlighting it was an attempted lynching on #JussieSmollett. After being called out by @Cameron_Gray, he now says it doesn’t matter who the perpetrators are. Expect more takes like this https://t.co/EsA8kELhat pic.twitter.com/VLXxC63Ibe
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) February 16, 2019
Congresswoman Maxine Waters called for Justice for Jussie! In 2019, not 2021.
Anti-police activist @shaunking spread misinformation about the Smollett investigation. Yes, he ultimately did provide phone records, but they were so heavily redacted that they were useless to police. https://t.co/qoABK5YQn0 pic.twitter.com/l3aby3jR5q
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) February 18, 2019
Meanwhile, in Hollywood, anti-American donut-licker and singer Ariana Grande weighed in after the “attack” and had a better take than most. “I can’t believe that this sh*t is really still happening every day.” Don’t worry, Ariana, if it were happening every day, Jussie wouldn’t have had to make it up.
A historian announced that the (fake) attack was right in line with “white supremacists” like “Tucker Carlson.” Out magazine announced, against mounting evidence that it was a hoax, that we should “believe Jussie.” The LGBT organization GLAAD announced that Smollett had been “doubly victimized” because he’d initially been attacked and then attacked again for his fake story. Actors pronounced the attack Trump’s fault for his “white nationalist rhetoric.” Smollett’s family called the attack “domestic terrorism.” On and on it went.
The elements of the faux attack satisfied the wildest political desires of Leftists, making the issue irresistible. It was rhetorical catnip.
And now here we are. Jussie Smollett is being prosecuted and sued for lying time and again about his race hoax.
He’s made his Democrat Hollywood and D.C. friends look like fools. But Jussie will get his job back and be back in their good graces in no time.
And a new tranche of conservatives will learn who can’t be trusted.
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