Well it was only a matter of time. Trump made Jussie do it according to Rahm

quote:

---

Rahm Emanuel blames Trump for Jussie Smollett controversy, creating 'toxic environment', tells him to 'sit on the sidelines'

CHICAGO – Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Thursday emphatically urged President Trump to butt out of the ongoing drama over embattled "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett as he blamed him for creating a "toxic environment" where someone would allegedly fabricate such an attack.

“My recommendation is the president go to Opening Day baseball, sit on the sidelines and stay out of this," Emanuel told a group of reporters.

The mayor called Chicago a "Trump-free zone" and blamed the president for creating a "toxic" and "hate-filled" environment that allowed Smollett to think he could get away with faking a hate crime.

“Let me be clear about something. The only reason Jussie Smollett thought he could take advantage of a hoax about a hate crime is because of the environment, the toxic environment that Donald Trump created,” Emanuel said.

“This is a president who drew a moral equivalency between people who are trying to perpetuate bigotry and those who are trying to fight bigotry.

As somebody who has started his own journey in politics fighting the neo-Nazis in Skokie and then down to Marquette Park, President Trump should literally take his politics, move it aside.

The mayor continued: “He's created a toxic environment and now he's created a toxic, vicious cycle in my view. The only reason Jussie Smollett thought he could get away with this hoax about a hate crime is because of the environment President Trump created.”

Emanuel is a frequent critic of the president, who said this week he'd have federal authorities look into the tangled Smollett case. The mayor said Trump and Smollett are part of the same "vicious, toxic cycle," a cycle he wants to break.

---