Hours after President Donald Trump said Friday was a “great day” for George Floyd because the U.S. unemployment rate decreased in May, Trump retweeted a video of radio host Glenn Beck and Candace Owens questioning Floyd’s character. Floyd died on May 25 while in Minneapolis police custody, and his death inspired new protests against police violence and systemic racism across the country. In the video Trump retweeted, Owens said she was sickened by Floyd being “held up as a martyr.”
Owens told Beck Floyd “was not a good person” and the two broke down his criminal record in the video Trump shared. “Is this really the guy that Black America … is this the symbol of Black America today?” Beck asked Owens, a staunch Trump supporter. “I don’t care WHAT George Floyd did,” Beck wrote in his original tweet with the video. “The officer should have never treated him like that and killed him!”
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Outside the White House on Friday, Trump celebrated the Department of Labor’s May jobs report, which showed better-than-expected numbers due to businesses reopening amidst the coronavirus pandemic. Trump said the economic news made Friday a “great day” for Floyd, who Trump hoped is “looking down” and “saying this is a great thing.” However, during the same White House event, Trump refused to say if he had a plan to address racial inequality. He also shook off a reporter who noted the jobs report showed an uptick in unemployment among African Americans and Asian Americans.
Floyd was arrested on May 25 when he was accused of using a counterfeit $20 bill at a grocery store. After he was cuffed, officer Derek Chauvin pinned Floyd to the ground by keeping his knee on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes, killing him. Chauvin was fired and charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter. Three other officers were fired and charged in Floyd’s death as the video from the incident shows them not stopping Chauvin.
Following Floyd’s death, his brothers Terrence Floyd and Pholonise Floyd have kept his memory alive. They have raised more than $13.5 million through a GoFundMe fundraiser and Philonise is scheduled to speak before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. His brothers have also spoken out against violent protests. “I’m outraged too,” Terrence told ABC News. “Sometimes I get angry. I want to go crazy. My brother wasn’t about that. You’ll hear a lot of people saying, ‘He was a gentle giant.’”
