Most of America probably never heard of Empire actor Jesse Smollett who claimed he was a victim of a late-night, racially charged, homophobic MAGA attack during the polar vortex in Chicago. Many Americans likely had an inkling that this was yet another hate crime hoax. The Trump-hating media nonetheless immediately amplified the allegations as did the self-righteous blue-check Twitter cohort and various prominent Democrats when it first broke. Although all the facts are yet to come in from the police investigation, and even the FBI got involved, some news outlets are now reporting that the incident may indeed have been a staged hoax.
With that in mind, Instead of doing People’s Court on-the-street wraparound interviews, Harvey Levin probably should caution his TMZ staff about running with a story about MAGA-hat-wearing, MAGA-country-shouting attackers that could turn out to be a hoax.
The Twitter feed of journalist Andy Ngo individually lists the hate crime hoaxes that have occurred across the country.
Reasons for Skepticism
Writes Clay Travis on his Outkick the Coverage blog:
“Look, I know instances of racism still exist, but the moment I heard that two huge Donald Trump fans were reportedly hanging out in sub-zero temperatures in Chicago trying to lynch some random black dude on a TV show most Trump supporters have never watched, this just didn’t pass the smell test to me. That is, it seemed totally implausible.
“What are the odds a random Trump supporter even knows who this guy is? Much less knows his personal life story and was so obsessed with him that they were stalking him in sub-zero temperatures? And then they managed to say the most stereotypical things possible to him and they were carrying a noose to put around his neck? And some bleach to throw on him? What for? To scare him into…what exactly?”
Added Kyle Smith of the New York Post about the alleged Jussie Smollett hoax:
“That there might be more to this story than met the eye seemed evident from the outset. Who walks around Chicago on a frigid night with a rope and a bottle of bleach looking for gay black men to attack — but then suddenly turns and runs away from the victim without doing him much injury or robbing him?… How dismal it must be to be a progressive, to rest your political purview on extremely dark assumptions about the nature of the American psyche.”
Added: PJ Media columnist Debra Heine made these observations about the Smollett controversy:
[Feature image credit: Gage Skidmore, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 license]“Over the years, the MSM has fallen for hundreds of hate crime hoaxes, reporting on them as if they were confirmed facts, rather than mere allegations. By the time the story is proven to be a hoax, the media has already moved on to the next manufactured outrage. This phenomenon has only increased since the election of President Trump. Yet people still expressed shock and surprise when it became obvious that Smollett had staged his own hate crime.”
