Donald Trump has spoken out about the attack that led to Empire star Jussie Smollett‘s hospitalization this week.
After arriving in Chicago from New York early Tuesday morning, Smollett was walking when he was attacked by two unknown offenders who approached him and gained his attention by yelling out racial and homophobic slurs towards him. The offenders began to batter Smollett with their hands about the face and poured an unknown chemical substance on him.
During the attack, one of the offenders wrapped a rope around Smollett’s neck. The offenders later fled the scene and Smollett was self-transported to Northwestern Hospital.
On Thursday, the President of the United States was asked about the homophobic, racist attack against Smollett by a reporter in the Oval Office.
“That, I can tell you, is horrible,” Trump said. “I’ve seen it, last night. I think that’s horrible. It doesn’t get worse as far as I’m concerned.”
According to TMZ, Smollett told the police in an interview that his assailants yelled “MAGA country” during the attack. The Chicago Police Department confirmed this information and told E! News in a statement, “In the initial reports there was no mention of MAGA. When detectives followed up with [Smollett] later in the day, he recalled the offenders making those comments and detectives completed a supplemental report.”
Chicago Police released a statement on Tuesday asking anyone with information about this incident to contact Area Central Detectives at 312-747-8382 or report it anonymously to www.cpdtip.com.