When Jussie Smollett claimed he was assaulted by two men wearing “Make America Great Again” hats, many Democratic politicians quickly came to his defense.
Those Democrats included Sens. Cory Booker and Kamala Harris, and Reps. Maxine Waters, Nancy Pelosi, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, among others.
Waters blamed the attack on President Donald Trump and asked, “Why all of a sudden do we have people unable to study while black, unable to mow a lawn while black, unable to have picnic while black, and being attacked?”
Pelosi tweeted, “The racist, homophobic attack on [Smollett] is an affront to our humanity. No one should be attacked for who they are or whom they love.”
Attorneys for Jussie Smollett speak out about hoax attack claims. Screenshot/ YouTube/Good Morning America
Kamala Harris tweeted that the attack was a “modern-day lynching,” while her fellow senator and presidential candidate Cory Booker used the same term to describe the alleged attack.
Meanwhile, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that the attack was not “possibly” a racist and homophobic attack, but that “it was a racist and homophobic attack.”
Smollett, who is gay, claimed that his attacker shouted racist and homophobic slurs at him. However, additional details later added a cloud of doubt to Smollett’s story, including the fact that Smollett was later seen walking to his house in the early hours of the morning with a subway sandwich in his hand. (RELATED: Jussie Smollett On MAGA Hats: ‘I Never Said That!’)
On Thursday, reports emerged that the Chicago Police Department now believe that the incident was a hoax and that Smollett staged the attack to garner sympathy because his character was being written off the show “Empire,” a report which 20th Century Fox denied, calling the claims “patently ridiculous.”
Two Nigerian brothers were arrested in connection with the case, and on Saturday CNN reported that the brothers are “now cooperating fully with law enforcement.”
Chicago police now believe that Smollett paid the two brothers to stage the assault.
