Trump says he hopes George Floyd 'looking down' and seeing today’s jobs numbers as 'a great day for him'

Authored by independent.co.uk and submitted by Austin63867

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Donald Trump has said he hopes George Floyd is “looking down right now” and saying the decline in US unemployment announced on Friday is a “great thing that’s happening for our country”.

The nation’s unemployment rate saw a surprise decline following the coronavirus pandemic but remains higher than during the Great Recession, prompting the president to state that a strong economy was central to improving racial tensions.

His remarks follow Thursday’s memorial for Mr Floyd, who was killed by police on Memorial Day after an officer forced his knee on the back of his neck for nearly nine minutes while facing the ground in handcuffs.

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While discussing law enforcement, the president said: “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. It’s a great day for everybody. This is a great, great day.”

Asked how the rate of unemployment among black Americans can be considered a “victory” as it continues to increase, the president told White House reporter Yamiche Alcindor, “You are something.”

A statement from Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh said that claims from the president that Mr Floyd would “be praising the economic news are wrong, purposefully misrepresented, and maliciously crafted”.

The nation’s unemployment rate declined from 14.7 per cent in April to 13.3 per cent in May in the wake of a public health crisis that has shuttered businesses and forced layoffs while millions of Americans have filed for unemployment insurance benefits.

While the decline signals recovery among some industries, and a potentially less severe of a blow from a looming recession, the US unemployment rate remains higher than at any point during the financial crisis of the late 2000s.

But unemployment among black Americans has increased by 0.1 per cent and by 0.5 per cent among Asian Americans.

“What’s happened to our country, and what you now see has been happening, is the greatest thing that can happen for race relations, for the African American community” as well as Asian Americans and Hispanic Americans, he said.

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In scripted remarks, he said that equal protection under the law “must mean that every American receives equal treatment in every encounter with law enforcement regardless of race, colour, gender, or creed.”

“They have to receive fair treatment from law enforcement,” he said before saying that he hopes Mr Floyd would be “looking down”.

Ben Williamson, White House senior communications advisor, said “it was very clear the president was talking about the fight for equal justice and equal treatment under the law when he made this comment” and not referring to the unemployment rate.

Shape Created with Sketch. Trump visits church after threatening to crush protests with military Show all 13 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. Trump visits church after threatening to crush protests with military 1/13 Donald Trump waves as he returns to the White House after visiting St John Episcopal Church for a photo opportunity after threatening to deploy the US military to crush protests over the death of George Floyd. Peaceful protesters had been cleared from Lafayette Park with tear gas to allow him to make the visit Getty Images 2/13 A protester demonstrating over the killing of George Floyd runs away amid a police crackdown that coincided with a statement by Donald Trump in the Rose Garden of the White House near by AP 3/13 Police begin to clear demonstrators gather as they protest the death of George Floyd near the White House AP 4/13 Donald Trump walks past police in Lafayette Park after he visited outside St. John's Church across from the White House AP 5/13 Donald Trump walks past graffiti as he heads from the White House to St John Episcopal Church after threatening to deploy the US military to crush protests over the killing of George Floyd EPA 6/13 A demonstrator raises their hands next to US Secret Service uniformed division officers during a rally near the White House against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd REUTERS 7/13 Donald Trump walks to St John Episcopal Church from the White House after protesters demonstrating over the killing of George Floyd were cleared from Lafayette Park REUTERS 8/13 Donald Trump holds up a Bible after walking to St John Episcopal Church. Demonstrators protesting against the killing of George Floyd were cleared from Lafayette Park with tear gas so that he could walk to the church from the nearby White House AFP via Getty Images 9/13 Donald Trump signals to a reporter to be quiet as he stands outside St John Episcopal Church following a walk from the nearby White House. Lafayette Park was cleared of protesters by police using tear gas so he could go there. He is flanked by Attorney General William Barr (far left), Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany AFP via Getty Images 10/13 Demonstrators kneel in front of a line of police officers during a protest for the death of George Floyd near the White House AP 11/13 Demonstrators gather in Lafayette Park to protest the death of George Floyd AP 12/13 Trucks transport District of Columbia National Guard troops along West Executive Drive in support of law enforcement officers that are keeping demonstrators away from the White House Getty Images 13/13 Military vehicles carrying National Guard personnel drive along West Executive Drive at the White House, following national protests against the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody REUTERS 1/13 Donald Trump waves as he returns to the White House after visiting St John Episcopal Church for a photo opportunity after threatening to deploy the US military to crush protests over the death of George Floyd. Peaceful protesters had been cleared from Lafayette Park with tear gas to allow him to make the visit Getty Images 2/13 A protester demonstrating over the killing of George Floyd runs away amid a police crackdown that coincided with a statement by Donald Trump in the Rose Garden of the White House near by AP 3/13 Police begin to clear demonstrators gather as they protest the death of George Floyd near the White House AP 4/13 Donald Trump walks past police in Lafayette Park after he visited outside St. John's Church across from the White House AP 5/13 Donald Trump walks past graffiti as he heads from the White House to St John Episcopal Church after threatening to deploy the US military to crush protests over the killing of George Floyd EPA 6/13 A demonstrator raises their hands next to US Secret Service uniformed division officers during a rally near the White House against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd REUTERS 7/13 Donald Trump walks to St John Episcopal Church from the White House after protesters demonstrating over the killing of George Floyd were cleared from Lafayette Park REUTERS 8/13 Donald Trump holds up a Bible after walking to St John Episcopal Church. Demonstrators protesting against the killing of George Floyd were cleared from Lafayette Park with tear gas so that he could walk to the church from the nearby White House AFP via Getty Images 9/13 Donald Trump signals to a reporter to be quiet as he stands outside St John Episcopal Church following a walk from the nearby White House. Lafayette Park was cleared of protesters by police using tear gas so he could go there. He is flanked by Attorney General William Barr (far left), Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany AFP via Getty Images 10/13 Demonstrators kneel in front of a line of police officers during a protest for the death of George Floyd near the White House AP 11/13 Demonstrators gather in Lafayette Park to protest the death of George Floyd AP 12/13 Trucks transport District of Columbia National Guard troops along West Executive Drive in support of law enforcement officers that are keeping demonstrators away from the White House Getty Images 13/13 Military vehicles carrying National Guard personnel drive along West Executive Drive at the White House, following national protests against the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody REUTERS

The president’s latest remarks about Mr Floyd follow his claims that massive protests against police brutality in the wake of the killing of Mr Floyd have “dishonoured” his memory, while he has threatened protesters with violence and his re-election campaign has used footage of memorials and other demonstrations for a video titled “Healing, Not Hatred”. That video was removed by Twitter following a copyright-infringement claim.

Mr Trump also has repeatedly claimed that his administration has “done more” for black Americans than any other, citing the unemployment rate — but black unemployment has risen to 16.8 per cent under his watch.

In a recent report, the Economic Policy Institute said that ”the pandemic and related job losses have been especially devastating for black households” following historic suffering under “higher unemployment rates, lower wages, lower incomes, and much less savings to fall back on, as well as significantly higher poverty rates than their white counterparts.’’

As states begin to “reopen” and ease quarantine restrictions during the Covid-19 crisis, employment rose in hospitality and construction industries, while education, health and retails began to see some increases, according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics.

The increase “reflected a limited resumption of economic activity” following the nations outbreak, which has led to the deaths of more than 108,000 people and has infected nearly 2 million people in the US, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

But “even with today’s gains the US still has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world”, Josh Lipsky, director of programmes and policy at the Atlantic Council’s Global Business and Economic Program, said in a statement sent to The Independent. “The reality is that millions of Americans are hurtling towards a financial cliff. There is no plan in place when the unemployment enhancement runs out next month.”

The White House has considered supporting another massive relief package despite stalls in Congress.

kneeco28 on June 5th, 2020 at 15:26 UTC »

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. It's a great day for everybody. This is a great, great day.

America really picked the worst human being imaginable and made him president.

Gambit08 on June 5th, 2020 at 15:17 UTC »

The African American unemployment rate went up to 16.8% in May jobs report, while the unemployment rate for whites went down, according to the Labor Dept.

BadStupidCrow on June 5th, 2020 at 15:17 UTC »

This guy is just profoundly fucked in the head. I mean there's no other words for it. He is just fucked in the head. This is a diseased mind.

EDIT: People have submitted a wide variety of possible mental illnesses, here's a catalog:

Textbook Narcissistic Personality Disorder Sociopathy Decades of adderall abuse Frontotemporal dementia Neruodegeneration due to untreated syphillis

To name a few.

There's powerful evidence of each and all of them.

But at the end of the day, I would argue he's something new. By nature and his early nurture, I think he's clearly a narcissistic with sociopathic tendencies who never had any discipline or treatment. The worst thing you can do for a narcissist is fuel the narcissism, and he's been chugging high-octane narcissism fuel for decades, thanks to his inherited wealth and the media constantly entertaining his presence and comments.

But in terms of narcissism, he's something new. There has never been a narcissist who has been given this much fuel for their sel-delusion for so long. With Twitter and modern television and the internet, he reaches and audience much larger than any other dictator or tyrant in history. He is addicted to vomiting his thoughts to an audience of billions and getting instant feedback, or calling any news show at any time and being able to blurt out his feeble and pathetic thoughts and have the army of sycophants he's surrounded himself with an a veritable military of online trolls hold the fetid shit up as solid nugget of golden wisdom.

What we're seeing is a number of mental issues collide with years of enabling them, in a brain that is clearly crumbling from a foundational perspective, after a lifetime of literally unprecedented narcissistic hedonism and ego gluttony.

So if we look at the entire picture of this mind as an aggregate, as a disease state combining many distinct and separate diseases coupled with a lifetime of doing the things to exacerbate them, I don't think there's any other word to properly describe and encapsulate everything he is.

He's just Profoundly Fucked in the Head.