In today’s nonsensical political world, there’s no narrative that can’t be turned on its head.

With damning new evidence suggesting “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett hired actors to stage an assault so he could present himself as a victim of a racist hate crime by MAGA shouting Trump supporters, his attorneys spoke out.

…to claim that by being busted in the ruse, Smollett is again being victimized.

(Well, the lawyers actually deny the claim, but throwing shade on such reports is their job.)

“As a victim of a hate crime who has cooperated with the police investigation, Jussie Smollett is angered and devastated by recent reports that the perpetrators are individuals he is familiar with,” attorneys Todd Pugh and Victor P. Henderson said in a release. “He has now been further victimized by claims attributed to these alleged perpetrators that Jussie played a role in his own attack. Nothing is further from the truth and anyone claiming otherwise is lying.”

Here is the latest statement from the attorneys that Jussie Smollett has retained: pic.twitter.com/E6L8KytPgy

— Stephanie Wash (@WashNews) February 17, 2019

Smollett reported — belatedly — that he was beat up by two men, who hurled racial and homophobic slurs at him, tied a rope around his neck and threw an unidentified liquid on him.

The attackers reportedly yelled, “This is MAGA [Make America Great Again] country.”

In downtown Chicago.

After the incident swept the nation, prompting outcry from the likes of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., who is running for president, the story started to fall apart.

The police investigation came to focus on two Nigerian brothers working as extras on Smollett’s TV series. Records show they bought the rope found around Smollett’s neck from a Chicago hardware store on January 25 ― four days before the alleged attack.

The brothers told authorities Smollett paid them $3,500 before they left for Nigeria (hours after the bogus attack on January 29) and were promised an additional $500 upon their return, CBS Chicago reported.

Smollett’s lawyers claimed that one of the “purported suspects” identified is the actor’s personal trainer, making it “impossible to believe that this person played a role.”

It wasn’t so hard to believe the other major player in the story, a liberal media eager to use the incident to tarnish President Trump.

And with the story blowing up in their faces, Mediaite’s John Ziegler wrote that this only serves to help Trump.

“Last night, the dam of media protection for Empire actor Jussie Smollett finally broke, as major news outlets suddenly decided it was safe to report that police strongly believe, backed by evidence, that his story of being a victim of a Trump-motivated hate crime is false,” Ziegler wrote in an op-ed.

He points to the Brett Kavanaugh travesty and the Covington Catholic fiasco, along with the Smollett ruse as stories “where the national news media was too in love with the narrative to even properly examine it.”

All of which results in a further loss of credibility, if that’s possible.

Ziegler took to Twitter to offer the national media some advice.

“Dear Media: Next time you’re baffled about why Trump supporters don’t believe a damn thing you report about the Russia scandal, please think back to how you handled Brett Kavanaugh, “Covington Catholic,” & Jussie Smollett… & then please blame yourself when Trump is re-elected.”

Dear Media:

Next time you’re baffled about why Trump supporters don’t believe a damn thing you report about the Russia scandal, please think back to how you handled Brett Kavanaugh, “Covington Catholic,” & Jussie Smollett… & then please blame yourself when Trump is re-elected.

— John Ziegler (@Zigmanfreud) February 17, 2019

Megyn Kelly had a similar message, though she expressed little confidence that the situation is going to change anytime soon.

“J. Smollett case had plenty of red flags, but media was too attached to storyline (& victimhood) to see/admit them. Once again, journos dedicated more to proving *themselves* virtuous than to reporting facts botch the story,” Kelly tweeted. “It’s tiresome & won’t change.”

J. Smollett case had plenty of red flags, but media was too attached to storyline (& victimhood) to see/admit them. Once again, journos dedicated more to proving *themselves* virtuous than to reporting facts botch the story. It’s tiresome & won’t change.

— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) February 17, 2019

Here’s a quick sampling of social media users who agree with Kelly’s assessment:

And. that’s why trust in the media is at historic lows.

— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) February 17, 2019

And take a look at @secupp’s timeline. No remorse, still blaming and mocking Trump supporters for #JussieSmollett’s lies.

Gee I wonder why people don’t trust the media? #CNN

— Christie (@RepRepublic) February 17, 2019

You reported on college campus hoaxes. You know this isn’t changing.

Instead. Those who control the narrative now insist due process, especially cross examination – is an impediment to justice.

World is twisted.

— Ashe Schow (@AsheSchow) February 17, 2019

I thought the local #Chicago city beat television and radio reporters did a damn good job, as they stayed on the story and their stations allowed them the time to dig dig dig!

Proud of our local guys! #CraftyBeaver

— LandOLinkin (@CatholicClinger) February 17, 2019

She has a point but Chicago media has been all over this while national media bought into this fake story. Another reason why the majority of our media just isn't good. They really don't care about facts. https://t.co/cO151W694S

— Will Thomas (@no1important701) February 17, 2019

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Tom Tillison

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The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.

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