Donald Trump Says It’s A ‘Great Day’ For George Floyd While Discussing May’s Jobs Report
Donald Trump made a speech on Friday to celebrate the unexpectedly good job numbers from May before moving on to the topic of George Floyd. Floyd died 10 days ago while in police custody, setting off protests against police brutality and racism across the United States. While praising the surprising drop in unemployment, he mused that he hoped Floyd was “looking down” with pleasure and it was a “great day for him.”
As Business Insider reports, unemployment dropped to 13.3 percent in May from 14.7 percent in April, a larger drop than many economists were expecting. The same report revealed unemployment among black Americans rose to 16.8 percent. Latino workers were hit the hardest, with 17.6 percent out of work.
But Trump touted the good economic news, but raised eyebrows when he said that it was a win for equality.
“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,” Trump said.
“We all saw what happened last week, we can’t let that happen,” Trump added. “Hopefully, George is looking down right now and saying, ‘this is a great thing that’s happening for our country.’ It’s a great day for him, it’s a great day for everybody, this is a great, great day in terms of equality. It’s what our Constitution requires and it’s what our country is all about.”
Trump on George Floyd, who was killed by Minneapolis cops: "Hopefully George is looking down right now and saying, 'this is a great thing that's happening for our country.' This is a great day for him." pic.twitter.com/LDl4V9Phzg
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 5, 2020
Trump continued to speak at length, discussing the protests and asking governors to allow him to call in the National Guard to “dominate the streets.” He also likened the rebounding economy to having surgery, saying that the country got ill, but we cut the infection out.
He also slammed Sweden for its coronavirus strategy and praised reporters for not social distancing during his press conference because it looked better. He also predicted a good August and July, with a spectacular recovery in the fall before predicting that 2021 would be one of the best years ever from an economic standpoint.
Trump has faced criticism for what people say is an inadequate response to the killing of Floyd, who died in police custody while former officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Floyd repeatedly said that he was unable to breathe before becoming unresponsive. He was declared dead shortly after the altercation at a local hospital. Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder, and the other three officers present are facing charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder. All four face up to 40 years behind bars.
