“Empire” actor Jussie Smollett was found guilty on five charges of staging a hate crime and lying to police on Thursday, raising questions as to whether or not several high-profile political figures would offer apologies or attempt to clarify their public defense of his innocence.

“What happened today to @JussieSmollett must never be tolerated in this country,” President Biden, tweeted in January 2019 when he was mulling a presidential run, “We must stand up and demand that we no longer give this hate safe harbor; that homophobia and racism have no place on our streets or in our hearts. We are with you, Jussie.”

Vice President Kamala Harris also believed Smollett’s story and posted about it on Twitter calling the alleged attack an attempted “modern day lynching.”

New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, a Democrat who ran for president, also referred to the alleged attack as an attempted “modern day lynching.”

“The vicious attack on actor Jussie Smollett was an attempted modern-day lynching. I’m glad he’s safe,” Booker tweeted. “To those in Congress who don’t feel the urgency to pass our Anti-Lynching bill designating lynching as a federal hate crime– I urge you to pay attention.”

Reverend Al Sharpton claimed that the “guilty must face the maximum” for the alleged crime committed against Smollett.

Biden Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg took Smollett’s side as well and used the incident to push for hate crime legislation.

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Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and many other prominent Democrats also chimed in with support for Smollett.

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