'Revolting': Trump condemned for saying George
Floyd is praising US economy
President made the comments after better-than-expected
jobs report showed national unemployment rate falling
David Smith
in Washington and Dominic Rushe in New York
Published
onFri 5 Jun 2020 20.12 BST
Donald
Trump was condemned on Friday for making the “revolting, enraging,
disrespectful” claim that George Floyd, an African American man killed by
police, is looking down from heaven and praising the US economy.
The
president attempted to take a victory lap after a better-than-expected jobs
report showed the national unemployment rate falling to 13.3% last month, with
2.5m jobs gained. But there was a slight uptick in African American
joblessness.
In White
House remarks that folded digressions within digressions, Trump declared:
“Today is probably, if you think of it, the greatest comeback in American
history.”
Speaking
after the 10th night of mass anti-racism protests across the country, Trump
suggested that Floyd, who died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed
his knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes, would be happy about the figures.
“Hopefully
George is looking down right now and saying this a great thing that’s happening
for our country,” he said. “There’s a great day for him. It’s a great day for
everybody. It’s a great day for everybody. There’s a great, great day in terms
of equality.”
The comment
earned swift opprobrium. Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for
president, said: “George Floyd’s last words, ‘I can’t breathe, I can’t
breathe,’ have echoed all across this nation and, quite frankly, around the
world. For the president to try to put any other words in the mouth of George
Floyd I frankly think is despicable.”
Michael
Steele, who is African American, a former chairman of the Republican National
Committee, told the MSNBC network: “It’s not only tone deaf, it’s borderline
blasphemous in light of what happened to Mr Floyd.
“I doubt
George Floyd is in heaven looking down going, ‘Oh gee, great jobs report!’ Are
you kidding me? Again, it speaks to just how out of step this man is with real
life. This reality television presidency is incompatible with democracy, it’s
incompatible with governing, it’s incompatible with everyday people trying to
realise the American dream.”
Defenders
of Trump argued that he was being willfully misconstrued. America First Action,
a pro-Trump Super Political Action Committee, claimed in a tweet that his
remark was taken “out of context”. Moments before referencing Floyd, Trump had
said: “Equal justice under the law must mean that every American receives equal
treatment in every encounter with law enforcement, regardless of race, color,
gender or creed.”
The
official White House Twitter account highlighted that comment in an apparent
damage limitation exercise. But Democrats and other critics were unconvinced,
noting that Trump had specifically tied Floyd’s imagined happiness to Friday,
the day of the jobs report.
Brandon
Gassaway, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, said: “Trump’s
claim is revolting, enraging, disrespectful – a slap in the face and a descent
to the lowest possible level of discourse. Trump has no concern or regard for
the feelings of anyone and will take every opportunity, even trampling on the
memory of George Floyd, to commemorate a jobs report that shows fewer than half
of black adults currently have a job and that fully 21 million Americans are
unemployed.”
The
surprise increase in jobs came after economists had predicted a rise in
unemployment to 20% as America reels from the coronavirus pandemic and
nationwide lockdowns. But the new rate of 13.3% is still far higher than
previous peak unemployment, which was 10.8% in 1982.
Most of the
2.5m jobs gained over the month were in hospitality and leisure, an industry
that lost 7.5m jobs in April as states went into quarantine. Analysts Capital
Economics wrote that the report generated mixed feelings of “optimism,
skepticism and anguish”.
They expect
the economy to recoup about 60% of lost jobs by year-end with the unemployment
rate dropping to 8-10%.
The
president has been fiercely condemned for mishandling the pandemic and showing
little empathy for minorities who suffered the worst of its health and economic
effects, then for responding to nationwide protests by ordering law enforcement
to “dominate” the streets and even threatening to deploy the military.
But Trump
will hope the May report boosts his chance in November’s election against
former vice-president Biden. In April, Jason Furman, a former economist in the
Barack Obama administration, predicted: “We are about to see the best economic
data we’ve seen in the history of this country” – a suggestion that reportedly
alarmed Democratic strategists.
Speaking in
the White House Rose Garden on Friday, Trump struck a triumphal note, likening
the economy to a healthy patient making a quick recovery. “This is outstanding,
what’s happened today,” he said. “Now, they thought the number would be a loss
of 9m jobs and it was a gain of almost 3m jobs.
“The
numbers are great, and this leads us on to a long period of growth. We’ll go
back to having the greatest economy anywhere in the world. Nothing close. And I
think we’re going to have a very good upcoming few months.”
Some
commentators have expressed hope that, having been put into an induced coma,
the economy could make a “V-shaped” recovery. Trump again brushed aside
warnings from public health experts and urged state governors to push ahead
with economic reopenings.
“Now we’re
opening, and we’re opening with a bang,” he said. “We’ve been talking about the
V. This is better than a V. This is a rocket ship.”
Yamiche
Alcindor, the White House correspondent of PBS News, asked Trump if he has a
plan to address systemic racism. He replied: “It’s the greatest thing that can
happen for race relations, for the African-American community, for the Asian
American, for the Hispanic-American community, for women, for everything.
“Because
our country is so strong, and that’s what my plan is. We’re going to have the
strongest economy in the world. We almost are there now … And now we’re going
to have an economy that’s even stronger.”
Although
the unemployment rate for white people decreased from 14.2% to 12.4%, the rate
for African Americans went up from 16.7% to 16.8%. When Alcindor challenged
Trump on this point, he dismissed her with a wave and said: “You are
something.”
Democrats
dismissed Trump’s bombast and said he was out of touch with the pain and
anguish felt by millions, particularly African Americans.
Chuck
Schumer, the Democratic minority leader in the Senate, said: “With nearly 20m
people out of work and unemployment among African Americans increasing, now is
not the time to be complacent or take a victory lap. Thirteen per cent
unemployment number is not ‘joyous’ or ‘stupendous’ as President Trump has
wrongly stated.”
Jon
Favreau, a former speechwriter for Obama, tweeted: “Depression-era
unemployment, 100,000+ dead, millions sick, massive protests, police riots, and
Trump is giving a celebratory press conference. Not sure I’ve ever heard a
president sound so divorced from the reality that most Americans are facing. Hilariously
out of touch.”
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