Barack Obama had harsh words for President Donald Trump and Jared Kushner at a Florida rally on Tuesday, one day after the president’s son-in-law mocked Black Lives Matter protesters.
The former president was speaking at a rally for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden when he brought up how frequently Trump brags about all the great things he’s done for Black Americans.
″[Trump] loves to talk about Black unemployment — ‘look how low Black unemployment’ — well, you know what? Unemployment was really high when I came in and we brought that unemployment low ... And he wants take credit for it; says he’s the best president for Black folks since Abe Lincoln.”
Obama then turned his attention to Kushner, who went on “Fox & Friends” on Monday, where he said that many of those who spoke out after George Floyd’s death in May were just “virtue signaling.”
Kushner claimed that Trump’s policies could help Black people “break out of the problems that they’re complaining about, but he can’t want them to be successful more than they want to be successful.”
Obama let the snark fly at Kushner.
“Now [Trump’s] advisors are out there saying ― including his son-in-law ― his son-in-law says Black folks have to want to be successful. That’s the problem. Who are these folks? What history books do they read? Who do they talk to?”
A woman interjected, “They don’t read!”
Obama answered back: “Don’t read? Is that what is going on?”
Another man chimed in: “They don’t read!”
Obama noted that Black unemployment hit almost 17% during the Great Recession 10 years ago and said, “Through a lot of hard work, Joe Biden and I helped get it down.
He added: “And it kept on going down. Not because Trump did anything. And then, this year, because they’ve screwed up the pandemic response, it soared back up to above 17% here in Florida. But it doesn’t have to be that way, Florida, if you go out and vote.”
You can see Obama’s comments above.
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.