—————
This morning, my RedState colleague Bonchie reported on how today’s jobs report brought with it some unexpected but very welcomed news concerning May’s job numbers.
President Trump held a press conference/signing ceremony today at the Rose Garden where he talked about the good news revealed by the BLS’s report before signing a bill that will “give recipients of government small business loans during the coronavirus more flexibility in how they spend the money.”
During the speech he gave before signing the bill, Trump also talked about a number of issues including racial equality in the context of the death of George Floyd last Monday, which happened after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin had his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly 9 minutes.
CBS News is one of the few news outlets that actually reported Trump’s comments accurately while providing some context:
But black unemployment rose slightly from 16.7% in April to 16.8% in May, in a month the president declared a “tribute to equality” as the nation protests racial discrimination and police brutality. Mr. Trump also seemed to declare success after a week of protests that swept the nation.
“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 receive fair treatment from law enforcement,” the president said. “They have to receive it. 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. 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 of equality.”
Despicably, other media outlets took the quote out of context, and “reported” that Trump said hopefully Floyd was looking down and thinking it was a “great thing” that the jobs numbers report was better than expected:
And now you have countless news sites spreading this falsehood…
Do members of the press really not realize how much this stuff kills their credibility? pic.twitter.com/wlKobZe2nb
— (((AG))) (@AGHamilton29) June 5, 2020
Appears @kaitlancollins also decided to dishonestly mislead her audience into thinking that comment was about job numbers. Unfortunately, @jaketapper chose to spread that false claim. pic.twitter.com/H7vLOZJ6EF
— (((AG))) (@AGHamilton29) June 5, 2020
No, @peterbakernyt, Trump did not suggest that. He clearly wasn’t talking about the job numbers. You should delete your tweet and apologize. pic.twitter.com/WO3iQvWwPx
— (((AG))) (@AGHamilton29) June 5, 2020
Fake News. pic.twitter.com/1RB3zrdptQ
— Sister Toldjah 😁 (@sistertoldjah) June 5, 2020
This is NOT what he said at all. He was NOT talking about the jobs report when he made these remarks. He was talking about racial equality. Dishonest reporters make me ill. WATCH THE VIDEO. https://t.co/ifN0E7sbDT
— Sister Toldjah 😁 (@sistertoldjah) June 5, 2020
Just so everybody sees it in context, watch the actual video of what he says and then marvel at how so many in the media could so stupidly report that Trump was talking about the jobs report:
"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
Here’s a longer version:
TRUMP: “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..” pic.twitter.com/Q7magBCVZ6
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) June 5, 2020
Here’s the full text:
At the beginning of the second paragraph he briefly looks down to read that first sentence off prepared remarks. Then, obviously, he returns to improvisation. pic.twitter.com/plM2rEoo64
— Andrew Egger (@EggerDC) June 5, 2020
I’d say shame on every media outlet who misreported this quote, but they really have no shame, as evidenced by this ridiculous question Trump got later on during the ceremony:
Today's get-Trump's-goat question: "How would a better economy have protected George Floyd?" pic.twitter.com/TIm5OpL2LQ
— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) June 5, 2020
Just unbelievable. And they wonder why so many people don’t trust them anymore?
Join the conversation as a VIP Member