The United States received some promising news on Friday with the release of the monthly jobs report showing that there was a gain of 2.5 million jobs in May. The unemployment rate dropped from 14.7 percent in April to 13.3 percent. Simply put, it was the largest monthly employment gain in history, and the media needed to create a fake story to create outrage and overshadow this positive news.
And they came through.
President Trump spoke from the Rose Garden on Friday, and spoke about the need for “equal justice under the law” and “equal treatment” for every American.
“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. They have to share fair treatment from law enforcement. They have to receive it,” Trump said. “We all saw what happened last week. We can’t let that happen. 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 day for everybody. This is a great, great day in terms of equality.”
"Equal justice under the law must mean that every American receives equal treatment in every encounter with law enforcement regardless of race…Hopefully #GeorgeFloyd is looking down right now & saying this is a great thing that's happening for our country…in terms of equality" pic.twitter.com/7rNQ4EX8Gq
— Team Trump (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) June 5, 2020
This positive message that one would assume liberals would support was instead taken out of context to give the impression that Trump had invoked George Floyd’s name in reference to the jobs report released earlier in the day, which he clearly did not.
President Trump touted the improved unemployment numbers in the Rose Garden this morning and said they marked a “great day” for George Floyd https://t.co/HGd2aN1GUk pic.twitter.com/GA2Qi2ydlj
— POLITICO (@politico) June 5, 2020
“Hopefully George is looking down right now and saying this is a great thing that’s happening for our country,” President Trump said, mentioning George Floyd while touting the jobs report. “This is a great day for him. It’s a great day for everybody.” https://t.co/5sRG8W8Qr6
— The Associated Press (@AP) June 5, 2020
Trump says George Floyd is ‘looking down’ from heaven because of the marginal unemployment drop.
"It’s a great day for him"
Trump said the new jobs report “hopefully” brings comfort to Floyd, who died after a white Minneapolis cop dug a knee in his neck.https://t.co/g5TRaQiDTG
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) June 5, 2020
Trump hails improvement in employment numbers and says it's a "great day" for George Floyd https://t.co/Z0MUV43bqF
— CBS News (@CBSNews) June 5, 2020
A “great day” for George Floyd, the president says. https://t.co/O6jIwdPk2M
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) June 5, 2020
Donald Trump says economic growth is a solution to systemic racism, calls surprising jobs news a "great day" for George Floyd https://t.co/K1GnKVO0ZK
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) June 5, 2020
Trump said that hopefully George Floyd is looking down from heaven and saying today is a great day for the country.
“It’s a great day for him and it’s a great day for everybody,” he says.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) June 5, 2020
Faux-conservative S.E. Cupp at CNN also fell for it, hook, line, and sinker.
This man is sick. Sick in the head and in the heart. https://t.co/HC9Mh68Mim
— S.E. Cupp (@secupp) June 5, 2020
Peter Baker, the Chief White House correspondent for the New York Times originally repeated the lie on Twitter, though later deleted his tweet:
There's some question about what Trump was referring to when he said George Floyd would think this is a "great day for him," so I've deleted the original tweet.
— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) June 5, 2020
But Joe Biden has now jumped in, echoing the lie.
Joe Biden: “For the president to try to put any other words in the mouth of George Floyd I frankly think is despicable.” https://t.co/m9ryf2cADM
— NBC News (@NBCNews) June 5, 2020
The mainstream media is a disgrace. Will Twitter fact-check these tweets? Don’t count on it.
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Matt Margolis is the author of Trumping Obama: How President Trump Saved Us From Barack Obama’s Legacy and the bestselling book The Worst President in History: The Legacy of Barack Obama. You can follow Matt on Twitter @MattMargolis
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