Former President Barack Obama is poking fun at President Donald Trump for claiming he has done more “than any president since Abraham Lincoln.“
“[Trump] loves to talk about Black unemployment, ‘Look how low Black unemployment [is]. Well, you know what, unemployment was really high when I came in. And we brought that unemployment low, and it kept on going low,” Obama said during a drive-in rally on Tuesday.
He added, “And he wants to take credit for it, says he’s the best president for Black folks since Abe Lincoln.”
He turned his attention to comments made by Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who said that Black Americans have to want to be successful. Obama said, “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? Don’t read? Is that what is going on?” he added.
He noted that unemployment for Black Americans hit roughly 17% during the Great Recession, but he argued that his administration helped to bring that number down, “And it kept on going down, not because Trump did anything.”
However, he noted that the unemployment rate for Black Americans in Florida rose to more than 17%.
“But, it doesn’t have to be way, Florida, if you go out and vote,” he added.
Watch the video below:
#BREAKING: President Obama slams Jared Kushner comments on Black Americans' desire for success: "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?" pic.twitter.com/KJA9ttLB8Z
— The Hill (@thehill) October 27, 2020
During an interview on “Fox & Friends” on Monday, Kushner said, “President Trump’s policies are the policies that can help 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.”
He also slammed athletes and other celebrities who “put a slogan on their jersey or write something on a basketball court.”
“Quite frankly, that was doing more to polarize the country than it was to bring people forward. You solve problems with solutions,” Kushner added.
