Donald Trump went for the jugular in a new interview in which he laid waste to actor Jussie Smollett and his hate crime hoax.
The former president joined Fox News host Laura Ingraham on Friday night to talk about a myriad of topics, including the now convicted actor.
“Mr. President, you just heard the left blame you back in 2019 for Jussie Smollett’s phony race attack,” the host said. “Of course, he was found guilty on five of the six accounts.”
“It’s a disgrace when happened,” he responded “He said MAGA country tried to hang him, that MAGA country was bad. And if somebody, if he were a Republican, if he were on the other side, he’d be in jail for 25 years for hate crimes.”
He mentioned that Smollett claimed that the attackers were wearing his trademark “Make America Great Again” hats.
“And it turned out they were caught and they admitted everything,” the former president said. “And that this even went to trial, it’s so crazy what happened and he tried to get away. But the got it and they got it strong, and he was convicted almost all of the counts.”
“This was an absolute con job. He was a conman and he wanted to try to get sympathy so he could have his contract renewed for a ridiculous television series, but that didn’t work out too well. And then on top of it, he got caught. And you know, it’s interesting. He wouldn’t have been caught except he pressed it all the way. He pressed it too far. He wanted apologies and everything else, and then the police came in. They did an amazing job and they caught him cold and he deserves it. But this is a hate crime. This is really a hate crime, sort of a hate crime in reverse and he’s not going to get away with it,” he said.
Smollett was convicted this week on five of six counts against him in relation to filing a false police report.
Smollett had been accused of hiring two Nigerian men to wrap a noose around his neck and pour bleach on his face. The actor then filed a false police report, where he claimed that he was attacked by two Trump supporters in MAGA hats who called him racist and homophobic names.
Smollett was charged with six counts of disorderly conduct after police said he made false reports about being the victim of a hate crime. He faces up to three years in prison.
They asked Judge James Linn for a copy of a calendar prosecutors displayed at trial that indicated relevant dates, including that of the alleged attack and of what two brothers testified was a “dry run” for the Jan. 29, 2019, assault.
In closing arguments earlier Wednesday, a prosecutor told jurors there is “overwhelming evidence” that Smollett staged the attack, then lied to police about it for publicity.
His defense attorney said prosecutors’ case was based on lies.
The AP reported:
In his closing, special prosecutor Dan Webb said Smollett caused Chicago police to spend enormous resources investigating an alleged crime that they now believe is fake. Smollett, who is Black and gay, told police someone put a noose around his neck and yelled racist and homophobic slurs during the January 2019 attack near his downtown Chicago home.
“Besides being against the law, it is just plain wrong to outright denigrate something as serious as a real hate crime and then make sure it involved words and symbols that have such historical significance in our country,” Webb said.
He also accused Smollett of lying to jurors, saying surveillance video from before the alleged attack and that night contradicts key moments of Smollett’s testimony.
“At the end of the day, he lacks any credibility whatsoever,” Webb said.