'What about MAGA': Trump says Jussie Smollett insulted millions with 'racist and dangerous comments'

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Then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump holds an LGBT rainbow flag given to him by supporter Max Nowak during a campaign rally at the Bank of Colorado Arena on the campus of University of Northern Colorado October 30, 2016 in Greeley, Colorado.

• President Donald Trump on Thursday slammed Jussie Smollett after Chicago police arrested the actor and accused him of staging a hate crime. 
• Trump in a tweet said, "@JussieSmollett - what about MAGA and the tens of millions of people you insulted with your racist and dangerous comments!? #MAGA."
• Smollett has claimed he was a victim of a hate crime in Chicago in late January, but evidence has emerged contradicting his narrative. 
• Early on, Trump seemed to believe Smollett and in late January described the alleged attack as "horrible."

President Donald Trump on Thursday weighed in on the new, incendiary allegations in the Jussie Smollett case, accusing the actor of insulting millions with "racist and dangerous comments."

In a tweet, Trump said, "@JussieSmollett - what about MAGA and the tens of millions of people you insulted with your racist and dangerous comments!? #MAGA."

Trump's tweet came after Smollett, 36, was arrested by Chicago police and charged with disorderly conduct and filing a false police report.

Smollett has maintained he was the victim of a violent hate crime in Chicago in late January, but in the course of investigating the incident police now believe the actor staged the incident and paid men to attack him. 

The actor, who is openly gay and black, claimed the two men who attacked him shouted racist and homophobic slurs. Smollett also said one of the attackers yelled, "This is MAGA country," as he fled the scene. 

Smollett is maintaining his innocence, but Chicago police on Thursday vociferously criticized the actor over his narrative on the alleged attack. 

Read more: How 'Empire' star Jussie Smollett went from victim to suspect after reporting a hate crime

Chicago police superintendent Eddie Johnson said Smollett paid two men to orchestrate the attack because he was unhappy with his salary on the show "Empire," in which the actor plays a gay musician. 

Johnson seemed to be livid with Smollett, and ripped into the actor during his comments on Thursday. 

"To stage a hate crime of that nature, when he knew as a celebrity it would get a lot of attention … is just despicable," Johnson said. 

"Absolute justice would be an apology to this city that he smeared, admitting what he did, and then be man enough to offer what he should offer up in terms of all the resources that were put into this," Johnson added.

Initially, many prominent Democratic politicians and celebrities took Smollett's story at face value and lambasted those who doubted the actor's claims. As evidence emerged contradicting Smollett's claims, conservatives like Donald Trump Jr. have seized upon the case as evidence of widespread bias against them. 

But Trump was initially among those who condemned the alleged attack, describing it as "horrible" and stating it "doesn't get worse, as far as I'm concerned" when questioned by reporters on the matter in late January.