House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is one of many Democrats trying to backtrack on their original defense of “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett.
On Jan. 29, Pelosi joined many others and took to Twitter to issue a strong defense of Smollett, who claimed that he was physically assaulted in Chicago by two men in ski masks who poured bleach on him, put a rope around his neck like a noose, and yelled, “This is MAGA country.”
Pelosi emphatically deafened Smollett and portrayed him as a upstanding person.
“The racist, homophobic attack on Jussie Smollett is an affront to our humanity. No one should be attack for who they are or whom they love. I pray that Jussie has a speedy recovery and that justice is served,” Pelosi wrote.
“May we all commit to ending this hate once and for all,” she added.
As noted by Newsmax columnist James Hirsen, the tweet no longer exists on Pelosi’s official Twitter account, meaning it appears to have been deleted.
Speaker Pelosi deleted this with no retraction or commentpic.twitter.com/D9NRP6wOty
— James Hirsen (@thejimjams) February 18, 2019
It appears that Pelosi’s tweet was deleted over the weekend as more information was made public about the Smollett case.
According to ABC News, two Nigerian brothers were arrested last week by Chicago Police in connection to the alleged assault and later released after telling law enforcement that Smollett paid them to stage the attack.
One of the Nigerian brothers is Smollet’s personal trainer and they both reportedly told police that the entire attack was a hoax.
Police also have evidence that the brothers had bought the rope that was put around Smollett’s neck at a local hardware store.
Smollett’s attorneys released a statement on Sunday denying allegations that he staged his own attack.
“As a victim of a hate crime who has cooperated with the police investigation, Jussie Smollett is angered and devastated by recent reports that the perpetrators are individuals he is familiar with. He has now been further victimized by claims attributed to these alleged perpetrators that Jussie played a role in his own attack. Nothing is further from the truth and anyone claiming otherwise is lying,” the statement read.
While it’s unclear what happens next in the case, it’s interesting to see that Pelosi deleted her tweet without making any mention of it, as if she’s rushing to hide the fact that she jumped to conclusions and got duped.
Top Democrats like California Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris and New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker — both of which are running for the Democratic nomination for president — have yet to retract their original tweets that heaped praise on Smollett and implied President Trump was to blame for the alleged attack.
Leave a Comment
COMMENTS POLICY: We have no tolerance for messages of violence, racism, vulgarity, obscenity or other such discourteous behavior. Thank you for contributing to a respectful and useful online dialogue.