Fox News' Chris Wallace Says Viewers Should Be Careful About Blaming Politics For Jussie Smollett's Alleged Hoax: 'Smollett Is The Person Who's Responsible Here'
Fox News anchor Chris Wallace had some cautionary words for viewers of the cable news network on Thursday.
Wallace appeared as a contributor during The Daily Briefing with Dana Perino, first discussing the latest developments in the Jussie Smollett case before the pair moved on to other topics such as President Donald Trump's upcoming summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Wallace and Perino began discussing Smollett, with Perino quoting part of an opinion piece from The Daily Beast's Matt Lewis and a tweet from Trump where the president said Smollett had insulted "tens of millions of people" with "racist and dangerous comments," referring to Smollett's allegation that his attackers had shouted MAGA country when assaulting him.
"So this is all playing out in a way that might lead to a bigger discussion, Chris?" Perino asked, prompting Wallace to disagree.
"I gotta say I'm not very comfortable with that," Wallace said. "I think the people that should be held responsible for these activities are the people who actually did them." Wallace went on to highlight the case of Cesar Sayoc, a Trump supporter in Florida who sent 16 mail bombs to Democrats, including former President Barack Obama, former Vice President Joe Biden, 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and others such as billionaire George Soros and actor Robert de Niro. CNN's office in Atlanta was also targeted by Sayoc.
"I remember...some people wanted to draw some parallels and say [Sayoc] showed something about Trump supporters. No, it showed something about this nut down in Florida," Wallace said. "And my feeling is this doesn't show something about victimhood or liberal politics."
Wallace went on to say that Smollett's situation shows a "very disturbed individual" and that the actor "probably deserves a jail term." Wallace added that Smollett should have to pay back all the money that Chicago police utilized in resources and payroll to investigate the alleged hoax.
"I think when people try to draw these big political lessons from individual things — let's say it had turned out to be true, it would have said nothing except for the fact that two individuals, two thugs, had beaten up this actor," Wallace said. "But it doesn't say something about Trump supporters, it doesn't say something about conservatives. And I think when anybody on the left or the right tries to draw lessons from a crime then they run into danger and they make a mistake."
"Jussie Smollett is the person who's responsible here, not liberal politics," Wallace continued. "If it had been true, it would have been the two thugs who did it, not Donald Trump or his supporters."
Smollett was indicted for filing a false police report on Wednesday in relation to his Jan. 29 call to Chicago police regarding the alleged attack. Smollett stated that two men had attacked him, yelling racial and homophobic slurs and hung a rope around his neck. The Empire actor was issued a $100,000 bond on Thursday, which he paid shortly after the hearing.
