Trump hits back at Jay-Z by touting black unemployment numbers

Denis Balibouse | Reuters

President Donald Trump gestures as he delivers a speech during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland January 26, 2018.

For his part, Trump has denied using the vulgar term, and on Saturday sent a letter to African leaders expressing “profound respect.” On Sunday, the president tweeted that Jay-Z should acknowledge the decline in black unemployment — which recently fell to its lowest in nearly five decades — and the role his policies have played in that drop.

Trump tweet

In the wake of the great recession, black unemployment set a record of 16 percent while former president Barack Obama was in office. Since 2011, that high water mark has steadily declined to under 7 percent, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

However, Carter did in fact address that question on CNN. When asked on “The Van Jones Show” about the president’s repeated assertions about improving labor conditions for black Americans, Jay-Z said, “That’s missing the whole point.”

Van Jones tweet

“Because it’s not about money at the end of the day. Money doesn’t equate to happiness. It doesn’t,” he said. “You treat people like human beings. That’s the main point.”