Senator Kamala Harris, one of many Democrats running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, released a statement about the latest developments in the Jussie Smollett case. Her response is just about what is to be expected from the left, especially those running for president. That’s too bad because her statement falls short of being worthy of being taken seriously. This is the woman who was Attorney General of California and before that, District Attorney in San Francisco.

Harris devotes a whopping one sentence to express her sadness, frustration, and disappointment in Smollett. Then she delivers a single sentence to say that diverting police resources is wrong and that hoaxes make it more difficult for real victims to come forward. That’s it. The rest of her windy statement is in full social justice warrior voice about hate crimes.

A sentence that was missing from Senator Harris’ statement was pointed out by veteran journalist Debra J. Saunders who asks, “Aren’t you also angry at Smollett for making a false accusation?” in her Twitter response. That is a perfectly legitimate question. Most Americans watching the story play out are just angry listening to the timeline and details as presented by the Chicago Police Superintendent Thursday morning and then by a prosecutor Thursday afternoon at the courthouse. It paints Smollett as a sociopath willing to let two Nigerian men take the fall for a hoax he concocted because he wanted a bigger paycheck. As Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass wrote, two dozen detectives were assigned to the Smollett case. That number is high, Kass contends, but it is due to the fact that politicians (mostly Democrats) fell for the hoax hook, line, and sinker, including Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Even so, the city is numb to physical violence on the street. And numb to the emotional violence exerted by the political class.

But two dozen detectives for Smollett just doesn’t seem right. Make no mistake. I’m not blaming the detectives or the Chicago Police Department.

They work for a politician. His name is Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who famously announced a few years ago that a crisis is a terrible thing to waste.

And when Smollett told his amazing story, about being a black gay man attacked by racist Trump supporters on one of the coldest nights of the year, the media was all over it. National politicians were all over it.

They bought it without question.

Smollett knew he was making his story a political one because he made a point of including the MAGA narrative about his attack and he told Robin Roberts on ABC’s early morning show that “I come really, really hard at 45. I come really, really hard at his administration.” His Twitter feed verifies his claim. He wasn’t so brave, though, after his story began to unravel – he deleted some of the ugliest tweets. How about Senator Harris saying that Smollett owes Trump supporters an apology for painting them all as racist, homophobic, and violent people? Why didn’t her statement include dismissing violence no matter what the other person’s political views are?

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, another Democrat in the 2020 race, tweeted that Smollett needs to apologize to “the American people” and needs “to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.” There was no mention of any apologies needed from Senator Harris’ statement. Nothing to see here, just move along. At least she did say that Smollett should be prosecuted.

Of the announced Democratic candidates, Harris and Gabbard are the only ones to tweet about today’s Smollett case updates, as I write this Thursday night. This is hardly a show of courage from the left, much less support for law enforcement. It’s to be expected, though, since the Democrats are so heavily beholden to identity politics. They’ve chosen to remain silent instead of taking a position like a leader is expected to do. After being played by Smollett, who knew they’d all offer support and not even consider he was lying, now they are all stuck out on a limb.

Instead of working hard and putting in the time to warrant a raise in salary, Smollett chose to play a victim in a really badly scripted drama. His anti-Trump friends on the left were only too happy to be a supportive audience.