President Donald Trump tried to pitch black voters by touting lowering levels of African American unemployment — but as one Washington Post columnist pointed out Friday, that pitch is already falling apart.
Columnist Philip Bump noted that Trump in February bragged that "you’ve been seeing black unemployment, African American unemployment — lowest levels in the history of our country."
But February's unemployment data is now in, and black unemployment rose to seven percent after it was at six percent in September, Bump pointed out.
"This argument nonetheless remains a cornerstone of Trump’s political pitch to black Americans — along with the prison overhaul legislation he signed and his support from Kanye West — in part because his administration has otherwise been heavily focused on delivering for his mostly white base," Bump wrote.
In recent months, the columnist noted, "that argument about how the economy is delivering for black Americans has gotten noticeably wobblier."
Though general population employment numbers have grown consistently since Trump took office, Bump wrote, "white and Hispanic Americans have been added to the workforce at a faster pace" than their black counterparts.
The columnist concluded by noting that "it’s not as though there was a large group of black voters who were swayed by his pitch on the economy whom he stands to lose if the job numbers fall."
However: "If his spiel about the economic health of black Americans was also meant to provide political cover for the rest of his agenda, though, he might have more of a problem."