President Trump took aim at Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter on Sunday after the musician was critical of the president's treatment of people of color, including his alleged description of Haiti and African nations as "shithole countries." (The president has denied making those remarks.)
"Somebody please inform Jay-Z that because of my policies, Black Unemployment has just been reported to be at the LOWEST RATE EVER RECORDED!" President Trump tweeted on Sunday morning.
Somebody please inform Jay-Z that because of my policies, Black Unemployment has just been reported to be at the LOWEST RATE EVER RECORDED!
During a wide-ranging interview on Sunday's The Van Jones Show, the show's host, Van Jones, asked Jay-Z about Trump's "shithole" comments.
"Everyone feels anger," Jay-Z responded. "But after the anger, it's really hurtful because he's looking down on a whole population of people and he's so misinformed, because these places have beautiful people."
Jones then asked if the president deserves credit for "dropping black unemployment. ... Maybe he [says] terrible things but puts money in our pockets. Does that make him a good leader?"
Someone needs to inform @realdonaldtrump that I ALREADY asked Jay Z whether black employment figures redeem Trump’s… https://t.co/aWQ3E6sMxM
"No," Jay-Z responded.
"Because it's not about money at the end of the day. Money doesn't equate to happiness. It doesn't. That's missing the whole point," he said.
"You treat people like human beings. That's the main point. It goes back to the whole thing, 'treat me really bad and pay me well.' It's not going to lead to happiness, it's going to lead to, again, the same thing. Everyone's going to be sick," he continued.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, black unemployment has been declining for the last several years, from a high of 16.8% in March 2010 to 7.8% in January 2017, when Trump took office. It declined another percentage point over the year, and was a record-low 6.8% in December.
