Donald Trump has garnered some immense backlash for his remarks that “this is a great day for” George Floyd because unemployment rates are down.
Although it is widely known that Trump’s foot stays stuck in his mouth, he still somehow manages to surprise us sometimes. On Friday (June 5th), as the country continued to protest the police killing George Floyd along with all Black lives lost due to police brutality, Trump made some particularly insensitive and oblivious remarks about Floyd. Trump discussed the supposed “rocket ship” economy boost the U.S. experienced in recent weeks. “This shows that what we’ve been doing is right,” he said the millions the job gains the country had allegedly seen. “This is outstanding what’s happened today.”
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He then clunkily shifted the focus to issues racial inequality, noting that all persons, regardless race, “must receive equal treatment in every encounter with law enforcement.” It is then that he brings up George by name, somehow tying in the economy to his murder by police.
“Hopefully George is looking down right now and saying this is a great thing that’s happening for our country,” he said. “This is a great day for him, it’s a great day for everybody. This is a great day for everybody. This is a great, great day in terms equality.” He then claims that this economic rebound is “the greatest thing that can happen for race relations.”
His tone-deaf and unconscionable comments sparked plenty outrage on social media.