- The Washington Times - Thursday, February 21, 2019

Democratic presidential contender Kamala D. Harris broke her silence Thursday on the Jussie Smollett case, calling the apparent hoax disappointing and a distraction from fighting racism and homophobia.

The California senator said in a statement posted to Twitter that “part of the tragedy” is that Mr. Smollett’s story about being attacked by Trump supporters “has been seized by some who would like to dismiss and downplay” what she called “the very real problems that we must address.”

Saying that “we must not allow that,” Ms. Harris implied that despite being “sad, frustrated, and disappointed” by the turns in the Smollett case, she will not change her tune on what she saw at the beginning — she called the attack “a modern-day lynching” — and sees now as the more important matter.

“I will always condemn racism and homophobia. We must always confront hate directly,” she said.

• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.

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