On Sunday, Van Jones told President Donald Trump that he should be more like JAY-Z.
Apparently, Trump saw the Jay-Z interview Van Jones conducted on his new CNN show on Saturday in which the rapper was critical of Trump and some of his remarks and so-called achievements.
JAY-Z on the “shithole countries” debacle
On CNN’s The Van Jones show, JAY-Z said he wasn’t pleased with the comments Trump made about “sh**hole countries.” He said that he found those comments “hurtful” and that they show a person who is “looking down on a whole population.”
Jay-Z went on to say that instead of the country addressing the problem head-on, and in an honest way, the response has been to “spray perfume on a trash can.”
According to the award-winning rapper, by not dealing with the problem of Trump’s racism, it has been growing and getting worse and now we have the equivalent of a “superbug” to handle.
Trump bashes Jay-Z
Trump did not wait long to fire back.
On Twitter, the President’s favorite way of reaching the masses, he posted, “Somebody please inform Jay-Z that because of my policies, Black Unemployment has just been reported to be at the LOWEST RATE EVER RECORDED!”
Trump continues to try to take credit for the declining Black unemployment rate that gained traction and declined significantly under President Obama. Experts have noted that the decline under the Trump administration has been significantly lower.
Van Jones appeared on CNN’s Reliable Sources on Sunday, shortly after the tweet, to tell Brian Stelter that Trump could learn a thing or two from JAY-Z’s interview. Namely, Trump could learn to be a little more open and willing to grow, even on a public stage.
“So if you wanted to listen to what Jay-Z says, follow Jay-Z’s model, Mr. President,” Jones said. “He’s a strong guy. He’s a rich guy, but he’s willing to be confessional. He’s willing to grow in public. If you do the same thing, America would be a lot better off.”
Jones also noted that Trump must not have been paying attention to the interview, because they did, in fact, discuss the economy and the unemployment rate. It’s just that Trump probably didn’t like the discussion, because JAY-Z noted that racism was still hurting Black people despite the gains in the economy.