Donald Trump thinks the Jussie Smollett debacle is a win for him – but it’s the opposite
As the exasperating Jussie Smollett story has flipped on its head, most of us would probably like it to go away so we can get everyone’s full attention back on Trump’s daily affront to America. Whenever eyes and ears are pulled away from some awful Trump judge, damaging climate change decision, or NRA-enabled mass shooting by a click-hungry media, the president and the GOP win.
But the Smollett farce is illuminating for one major reason: it serves as a quick refresher on the process of the law. Obstruction of justice. Collusion. After all, what else is it called when one allegedly conspires (colludes) with others to stage an attack for some ill-gotten gain, material or otherwise? And what else but obstruction of justice is it when law enforcement accuses a suspect of lying to investigators and charges him with disorderly conduct – a felony with a maximum three-year prison sentence? And these are stakes much lower than what Trump and many around him are accused of, considering that colluding with Putin via Russian mob figures and obstructing investigations into that conspiracy is about as high-stakes as it gets.
The alleged Smollett fakery has been red meat for MAGA twits, as it has allowed them to absolve themselves from supporting Trump’s xenophobia, divisive rhetoric and racist policies while tweeting about liberals being the judgy mean ones who will prop up falsehoods to make others look like the bad guys. Trump tweeted about Smollett this morning as well. But, like usual, Trump’s slobbering hordes go too far. Now they want Smollett to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Okay, sure. If what Chicago PD chief Eddie Johnson alleges is eventually proven in court, Smollett should be reasonably punished for obstructing justice and conspiring with others to break the law. And Trump’s unquestioning cultists will have to figure out why their personal savior would be treated any differently by the justice system after he’s dispatched from the presidency for doing the same thing on an infinitely grander and more damaging scale. That should make for some interesting tweets.
Chuck is a former community reporter, columnist, and Army veteran