Once upon a time, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) knew exactly what to say regarding Jussie Smollett’s allegations that he was attacked by two homophobic, racist MAGA-shouting white guys after a late night trip to Subway.
But now the 2020 presidential hopeful is feigning ignorance in light of yesterday’s breaking news and it’s just not a good look.
First, a recap. Within hours of the first reports in late January, she tweeted this:
.@JussieSmollett is one of the kindest, most gentle human beings I know. I’m praying for his quick recovery.
This was an attempted modern day lynching. No one should have to fear for their life because of their sexuality or color of their skin. We must confront this hate.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) January 29, 2019
The former prosecutor knew, without looking at a shred of evidence, that Smollett had been a victim of a hate crime.
Yet just a few weeks later, when news broke that the Chicago PD believed Smollett staged the attack, the Senator gave an embarrassing blank stare when asked about it:
Here’s what she said at the time:
“Which tweet? What tweet?” Harris asked. As the reporter specified the tweet in question, Harris appeared to look around for a campaign staffer before responding.
“OK, so, I will say this about that case,” she said. “I think that the facts are still unfolding, and, um, I’m very, um, concerned about obviously, the initial, um, allegation that he made about what might have happened.
“And it’s something we should all take seriously whenever anyone, um, alleges that kind of behavior, but there should be an investigation,” Harris added. “And I think that once the investigation has concluded then we can all comment, but I’m not going to comment until I know the outcome of the investigation.”
Here we are now, a few weeks later, when news reports have been published across America about the charges against Smollett being dropped – along with the lame reasons given as to why, and she’s feigning ignorance on this case, and changed her tune on making a judgment call on it… again:
“I’m completely confused. I don’t understand. I don’t know. I don’t know the underlying evidence. There’s a sealed document, obviously. I don’t know. I’m at a loss,” Harris said during an interview on CNN’s “The Situation Room.”
[…]
“I think we should leave it up to the judgment of the police chief and the mayor, of course, to give us some better sense of what’s going on. I don’t know,” she added.
Watch the video segment below:
Democrat Senator Kamala Harris on Jussie Smollett's charges being dropped: "I’m completely confused. I don’t understand. I don’t know, I don’t know the underlying evidence. … I don’t know. I’m at a loss."
Harris had called the alleged attack an "attempted modern-day lynching" pic.twitter.com/gQYeX28rT6
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) March 27, 2019
You know what? Had Harris taken this tune the first time around after we were first hearing about what allegedly had happened, few people would be taking issue with how she’s responded to it since. But she’s changed up her responses because her original one no longer benefits her politically, so she deserves to be called out of it.
As Yoda would say: “Leadership this is not.”
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—Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 15+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter.–
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