Did Trump Say He Hoped George Floyd, Looking Down From Heaven, Is Happy About Job Numbers?

No.

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40

Reporting on President Trump’s press conference Friday, several journalists and news outlets claimed the president said he hoped George Floyd is looking down from heaven and is happy about improving job numbers. A number of news outlets including ABC News, Business Insider, the  Independent, and the  New York Daily News also made the claim in news stories they published about the press conference.

https://twitter.com/adamcancryn/status/1268920561746481155

A conservative media critic who tweets under the handle @AGHamilton29 quickly flagged the claims and pointed out further examples of journalists and news outlets making this claim. 

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  1. Avatar photo
    Adam

    How did this happen? I'm used to this sort of thing happening when people disagree on how to interpret his word salad, but this seems unusual in that the context makes it clear Trump wasn't talking about jobs numbers at that point.

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    Monte Montana

    I'm guessing that saying "Mr. Floyd" or "George Floyd" was too difficult. Why not just refer to him as you'd address a child?

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  3. Matthew

    One of the recurrent themes on the Dispatch podcasts is that the election isn't Trump vs. The Media, and that the acts of journalists are less important than journalists. I agree, and as much as I get irritated by the New York Times and its ilk it won't make me vote Trump or go MAGA.

    But stuff like this suggests that mainstream, respected media outlets are being willfully dishonest. Are these actions less serious than the police beating peaceful protesters? Absolutely.

    But garbage like this does hurt democratic liberal discourse, because its subsuming the news with willfully dishonest propaganda. It's hard to see how this was a good-faith mistake or interpretation of an ambiguous statement.

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    ReneFerrerJr

    I go to one place for the Truth--The Dispatch

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    Jesse Blankenship

    Your services are indispensable. Thank you!

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  6. JakeD

    And this is what I mean. Jonah will love this reference... but, you know how in the beginning of Monty Python and the Holy Grail...

    https://youtu.be/t2c-X8HiBng?t=147

    "Strange women lying in ponds, distributing swords is no basis for a system of government!"

    Now, this is exactly like that, but almost completely different.

    "Using twitter is no basis for actual journalism!"

    Okay, it worked out better in my head.

    But the sentiment is legit! And, I think all social media should go away.

    Gonna get serious here for a second. The world was a far, far better place before every person on the planet (and their myriad trolling sock puppet accounts) had just as much say or impact on the news as people who legitimately work for it, or, better, yet, have legal or monetary ramifications if they go around spewing their tribal, division causing, society wrecking, bile.

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  7. RunTrail

    His words, at best, are typically tone deaf and clumsy, but if media outlets think trying to make them look worse when Trump's most faithful supporters thrive on call-outs and gotchas like this, then they're truly, deeply, hopelessly as tone deaf and clumsy as Trump himself.

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  8. Jackie

    Trump believes the “greatest thing that can happen for race relations is a strong US economy.” As he was signing the bill he explained that a strong economy was going to help African Americans and listed others groups as well...so sort of the jobs numbers.
    Trump equates money with power so if the US has the strongest economy then everyone has the ability to be more equal. I do not think he buys into any systemic racism arguments. He still was saying to “dominate the streets” and just yesterday shared Dowd’s letter calling the protesters terrorists.
    So I’m not sure you can make the argument that Trump believes something happened today that would make George Floyd happy in the sphere of “equality under the law” except the unemployment rate fell from 14.7 to 13.3.

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    1. Avatar photo
      merseyyank

      Well said.

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  9. Very Old Grumpy Guy

    Oh, boy. "The lame stream media" got something insignificant wrong so we are going to dunk on them? Can we look into whether tear gas was used to clear the church? Were the protestors really non-violent? Who is looting? Who is shooting police? Maybe we should revisit the placement of MLK's bust again. C'mon guys and gal's - let's try and stick with the stuff that matters. I get it. "The Press" is so anti-Trump that they hastily report half truths against him. I do get it. But, just because one thing like this is misreported, doesn't mean it cancels out the multiple other outrageous things the president actually did say this week. On top of everything else, even in the proper context, the statement is borderline outrageous. The Dispatch is much better than this.

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    1. Avatar photo
      Don S.

      As someone whose blood pressure tends to rise when the President starts speaking, I appreciate the fact check so I do not have to listen to him. Mr. Trump was giddy about the jobs report. While his comments about George Floyd were not directly tied to the jobs report, I feel like the mere mention of how "happy" he should be the day after the memorial service does nothing to help and seems to be continually just about Mr. Trump. He's happy so Mr. Floyd should be happy. Just don't see too many people going through the visitation line at the funeral home and when you get to Mr. Floyd's mother you tell her how happy George should be...

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      Alex Mudd

      I dunno, if there was ever an opportunity to chip away at Trump's base it's right now. There's a risk these types of unforced errors will remind any wavering Trump voters how the nefarious liberal media is "the real enemy of the people."

      This administration excels at shifting attention from a mountain of their own bad behavior to a comparatively minor error on the part of their adversaries. Why give Trump that opportunity if you can avoid it?

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      1. Very Old Grumpy Guy

        Alex - Totally agree. However, I have MUCH more respect for the readers of the Dispatch than I do for the "general population". I am guessing that any Trump supporters subscribing to The Dispatch are not supporters because they pay attention to unimportant stuff like this. Their support is likely with a clothes pin on their nose, because they feel that net/net, the positives outweigh the negatives. They aren't looking to defend the irrational, dumb stuff. They know EXACTLY what Trump is. They have evaluated him in his entirety and concluded the world is better off with him as president. I disagree with their conclusion, but I COULD respect them if I thought their reasoning was not based on delusion. Nobody who is NOT thoughtful reads The Dispatch.

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          Alex Mudd

          Probably true, but I bet there are Dispatch readers who saw all those Tweets and were tempted to unknowingly propagate an improperly contextualized awful Trump comment.

          Thanks to Alec they can retweet it was the properly calibrated disgust.

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      Chris Jenkins

      There was a lengthy discussion of whether tear gas was used to clear the church on The Dispatch podcast.

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        Jake

        With an avatar like that, I’m going to be compelled to like every comment.

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  10. Avatar photo
    Jason Ramin

    I dunno. Why was it a "great day" ? What was great about the day that George was smiling about? There doesn't seem to be anything in the context that would lead you to believe its anything OTHER than the economy

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    1. Avatar photo
      Jonathan M

      Jason, I think you're correct. Trump noted Jobs, Economies opening up, and how poorly Dem governors are at dominating the streets, trade wars are going well. The only thing that really makes sense is that the economy is going well.

      I do think the comment was off the cuff and really meant nothing in any context.

      That being said, "but the mean media... " criticism is silly. Maybe the journalists were a bit over their skis on this one, but not by much. Especially given just how inarticulate Trump is in the way he conveys his message.

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    2. Nathan Shiba

      Jason, if you don't me asking, did you listen to the press conference/speech/mutterings?

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      merseyyank

      I have to agree with you. It's not like Trump said this is a "new day" for America. It is this specific day. But like almost everything Trump spouts out, it's open for wide interpretation.

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      rlritt

      I think he just reads what someone wrote and adds his own remarks and self-appreciatve adjectives. I don't think he is aware of what any of it means.

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      Brian Andrews

      Violence lessened overnight and order is returning in many places. Great news

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      Tyler

      Trump's "speeches" are such meandering word-salads that they end up being nothing more than Rorschach tests. Why was it a great day? Maybe because of the jobs report, maybe Trump's blood pressure readings were "tremendous" this morning, maybe his breakfast cheeseburger tasted great today . . . who knows? Basically, the Great Solipsist is happy, so of course everyone, even the dead guy, must also be happy.

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