Donald Trump on Friday said that he hopes George 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, is “looking down right now” to see the “great thing that’s happening for our country” as the nation’s unemployment rate declined but remains higher than during the Great Recession.
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 really something.”
Watch:
Trump imagines George Floyd celebrating new jobs report from heaven: "Hopefully, George is looking down right now in saying this is a great thing happening for our country. A great day for him, a great day for everybody." pic.twitter.com/CYBfh1hTSy
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) June 5, 2020
The job increase “reflected a limited resumption of economic activity” following the nation’s 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.
