Here’s a premise: If President Trump is responsible for all the racism in America (being that he is, according to the Left, a white nationalist and possibly the Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan), then liberals and Hollywood celebrities are responsible for fake hate crimes perpetrated by fake Trump supporters.
The Left has blamed all kinds of racism on Trump. Whenever a racist attack happens anywhere in America, liberals say Trump is creating a climate in which such hatred can flourish, and thereby is just as guilty as the attackers. The fact that the allegations are part of Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) — a malady suffered by liberals and progressives (and especially the mainstream media) — has not diminished the spurious theory. In reality, TDS lets anyone say anything they like at any time.
But if that premise is true, then isn’t the Left to blame when someone perpetrates a fake hate crime and tries to pin it on Trump? They are, after all, the ones who are pitching the idea that Trump is not only racist but condones racist attacks. So if someone — say, a black, gay actor on a mediocre TV drama — makes up a supposed attack, shouldn’t the blame be put squarely on those calling Trump racist?
Last month, actor Jussie Smollett claimed he was the victim of a racist anti-gay attack — by two Trump supporters, of course — and Democrats, along with the lapdog media, all but cheered. It didn’t take long for the whole escapade to come back around to Trump.
Karen Attiah, a Washington Post editor, wrote: “Regarding the heinous attack on @JussieSmollett, yet another reminder that Trump’s ascendance and the resulting climate of hate has meant that lives have been increasingly at stake since 2015. Smollett could have been killed by those thugs screaming MAGA. Let that sink in.”
Amy Siskind, a Huffington Post contributor, tweeted: “Can we get anyone in the Trump orbit to condemn the 2 MAGA men who brutally attacked Jussie Smollett, a gay black man, and put his head in a noose while saying ‘This is MAGA country,’ so others don’t feel like your silence is legitimizing hate? How about you @realDonaldTrump?”
Said Liz Plank of Vox: “There is real evidence of people who have done these crimes, who cite that the President has inspired them.”
There’s also “real evidence” that some of the so-called hate attacks inspired by Trump have been fake. The Daily Caller is keeping a running list, which now numbers nearly two dozen. Here are a few:
ANTI-MUSLIM HATE CRIME IN MICHIGAN TURNS OUT TO BE A HOAX (NOV. 2016)
A Muslim woman at the University of Michigan received national attention from national outlets like The Washington Post in November 2016 after she claimed a drunk 20-something man threatened to light her on fire if she didn’t remove her hijab. The university condemned the “hateful attack,” which turned out to be a hoax.
BISEXUAL STUDENT FAKES TRUMP-INSPIRED HATE CRIME (NOV. 2016)
Taylor Volk, an openly bisexual senior at North Park University claimed to be the target of hateful notes and emails following Trump’s election in November 2016. Volk told NBC News that “I just want them to stop.” But the “them” referenced by Volk turned out to be herself, as the whole thing was fabricated.
GAS STATION RACISM GOES VIRAL — THEN POLICE DEBUNK IT (NOV. 2016)
Philadelphia woman Ashley Boyer claimed in November 2016 that she was harassed at a gas station by white, Trump-supporting males, one of whom pulled a weapon on her. Boyer claimed that the men “proceeded to talk about the election and how they’re glad they won’t have to deal with n—–s much longer.” Boyer deleted her post after it went viral and claimed the men had been caught and were facing criminal charges. Local police debunked her account.
Now police have charged Smollett with filing a fake report of an attack (which he miantains really did happen). And people like Sen. Kamala Harris, the Democratic senator from California who is running for president in 2020, simply looks past the lie and still blames Trump.
“We must speak the truth: hate crimes are on the rise in America. Just last year, the FBI released statistics that revealed a 17 percent increase in the number of hate crimes in America,” she said in a statement after Smollett’s arrest. “Part of the tragedy of this situation is that it distracts from that truth, and has been seized by some who would like to dismiss and downplay the very real problems that we must address. We should not allow that. I will always condemn racism and homophobia. We must always confront hate directly, and we must always seek justice. That is what I will keep fighting for.”
Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson, clearly angry, ripped politicians and celebrities as he denounced the reaction to Smollett’s accusations. “To make things worse, the accusations within this phony attack received national attention for weeks. Celebrities, news commentators and even presidential candidates weighed in on something that was choreographed by an actor.”
Smollett may well walk away from the whole mess, sentenced only to community service or levied a stiff fine. And maybe that’s OK: He’s apparently deeply disturbed, so what would be the point of putting him in jail?
But make no mistake: If the charges are correct, Smollett committed a very serious crime, beyond making up an attack and giving a false report to police. He tried to ignite a racial war blaming Trump for his attack — which was literally cheered on by liberals and the MSM.
For that, he ought to go to jail for a decade, as a warning to all those TDS sufferers who want to claim Trump made them do it.