Friday, 5th June, 2020
Donald Trump calls massive fall in unemployment a 'great day' for murdered George Floyd in bizarre White House address saying: 'Hopefully George is looking down right now and saying, 'This is a great day for our country.' This is a great day for him.'
By GEOFF EARLE, DEPUTY U.S. POLITICAL EDITOR FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
- The US jobless rate dropped to 13.3% in May from 14.7% in April, according to a Labor Department report on Friday
- 'Great going President Trump' President Trump tweeted
- He wrote parenthetically he was 'kidding but true'
- Jobs also rose by 2.5 after a record plunge of 20.6 million in April
- Though the unemployment rate for white Americans was 12.4 percent in May, it was 17.6 percent for Hispanics and 16.8 percent for African-Americans
- President Donald Trump immediately took credit for the rise in jobs just moments after the report was released
- Economists had been predicting the report would reveal the unemployment rate had increased to a record 20% and about eight million jobs had been lost
- The May job gain suggests that businesses have quickly been recalling workers as states have reopened their economies following weeks long lockdowns
President Donald Trump seized on a new report showing a startling drop in unemployment Friday, then said murdered George Floyd was 'looking down' at the country and it was a 'great day' for him.
Trump made the odd comment during a rambling 53-minute appearance celebrating the good economic news – which he said defied expectations of top analysts and proved the U.S. economy was back on track.
'Hopefully, George is looking down right now and saying, 'This is a great thing happening for our country,'' Trump said. 'A great day for him, a great day for everybody. This is great day for everybody.'
'I think it was incredible in a couple of ways,' Trump said during 45 minutes of remarks in the sun in the White House Rose Garden. 'Number One the numbers are great and this leads us onto a long period of growth,' he said. 'We'll go back to having the greatest economy in the world.'
Trump upped his predictions for the nation's recovery. 'I think you're going to have a very good August, very good July,' he said, and a 'maybe spectacular September.
Trump veered into a number of topics besides the good economic report – trashing the Green New Deal, repeating his claim that 'you have to dominate the streets,' and calling out 'the greatest miscalculation in the history of business shows.'
He also called it, 'To me, if you think about it, the greatest comeback in American history.'
'We're going to work together. It will all work out. It will all work out,' he said, after days of images of major protests and angry, sometimes violent clashes with police.
He congratulated the National Guard and the Secret Service, who rushed him to a bunker beneath the White House Friday night amid protests and street violence. 'There was never any form of, 'Oh gee, this sounds dangerous,'' he said.
Trump called the guard 'fantastic' and said 'National Guard was barely used' – after the mayor of Washington D.C. requested he remove all military units from the city and questioned why some federal forces on D.C. streets wore no insignia.
'They came in, and this was like a piece of cake,' Trump said.
The president appeared unaffected by the heat, even as small business administrator Jovita Carranza could be seen repeatedly dabbing her face. 'I'll be brief as I can I know it's pretty darn hot,' economic advisor Larry Kudlow said when Trump had finally relinquished the podium. An official then brought paper cups of water to top officials who were stranded behind Trump for a 45-minute monologue at the start of the event.
Trump's extended remarks, extended past the 11 am start time of an online interview where former Trump chief of staff John Kelly sided with former Pentagon chief Jim Mattis, who provided a blistering critique of the president and accused him of politicizing the military.
'The idea you would unleash American active duty folks unless it's an extreme situation… the troops hate it,' Kelly said. 'The separation of powers is very very important,' he added. 'No president ever is a dictator or a king.'
Trump said at his White House statement governors should not be 'too proud.'
'In New York, you see what’s going on there. Don’t be proud, get the job done. You’ll end up looking much better in the end. Call in the National Guard. Call me. We’ll have so many people. More people than - you have to dominate the streets. You can’t let what’s happening, happen. It’s called dominate the streets,' Trump said.
Earlier Friday, Trump congratulated himself on a new jobs report that showed an unexpected reduction in U.S. unemployment even at at time when the nation is reeling from the impacts of the coronavirus.
Trump sent out a series of exclamatory tweets after getting the good news, and promptly scheduled a press conference to talk about it.
'Really Big Jobs Report. Great going President Trump (kidding but true)!' Trump wrote.
'Market up Big!!!' Trump wrote in another tweet, as the Dow jumped more than 700 points immediately following the news.
He also blasted out stunned reactions from market-watchers. 'THESE NUMBERS ARE INCREDIBLE! @MariaBartiromo,' Trump wrote, tagging the Fox Business News host who recently interviewed him.
'This is an AMAZING JOBS REPORT! Edward Lawrence @FoxNews,' Trump wrote, tagging a Fox Business journalist.
Employment figures unexpectedly rose by 2.5 million in May and the jobless rate declined to 13.3 percent, according to a stunning jobs report that showed the country's unemployment rate dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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