As the Jussie Smollett hoax controversy continues to unravel, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders was asked Friday what she thought about the phony hate crime. It’s “another sad example of people so quick to want to attack and come after” Donald Trump, Sanders replied.
Appearing on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends,” Sanders targeted those who had attacked President Trump over the incident before all the facts were in.
Democrat Leaders Fell For It
“There were so many people, including a lot of leadership from the Democrat Party, everybody from Nancy Pelosi, Cory Booker and a number of others, mostly those running for president that quickly came out and attacked the President, blamed the President,” Sanders said.
”In fact, as we learned more, it certainly seems like the only person to blame in this case is Smollett,” she added. “It is another sad example of people so quick to want to attack and come after this president.”
“Much like you saw with the Covington kids and certainly with this case as well,” Sanders said.
“And the President is pushing back.”
“Racist and Dangerous”
She’s right. Though President Trump originally expressed sympathy for Smollett when the Empire star originally claimed two men wearing “Make America Great Again” hats attacked him, as the truth began to come out, the president went after Smollett for his “racist and dangerous comments.”
.@JussieSmollett – what about MAGA and the tens of millions of people you insulted with your racist and dangerous comments!? #MAGA
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 21, 2019
After surrendering to authorities Thursday morning, Smollett was released later that afternoon. On Friday, the producers of Empire announced that Smollett would be removed from the final two episodes of the show.
Hopefully, that’s not the end of his punishment. Sarah Sanders is absolutely right that this was just another attempt by a liberal Hollywood figure to attack Trump. Yet, this incident obviously hurt Smollett’s reputation more than it hurt the president.
Even worse, violent incidents like the one Smollett concocted actually do happen. Will people be less willing to take them seriously in the future? In fact, with so many hate crime hoaxes occurring, will actual victims of violence feel like they will be believed if they come forward?
It’s doubtful these are question that entered Jussie Smollett’s mind, now or then. Sarah Sanders is right that it is sad someone would put so many through something like this just to try to hurt the president.