CNN host Van Jones on Sunday thanked Donald Trump for the public relations boost after the president attacked Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter's appearance on Jones' show.
Trump lashed out at Jay-Z in a tweet on Sunday after the hip-hop legend said that the president's remarks about "shithole" African nations was "hurtful." Trump responded to Jay-Z by touting African-American unemployment numbers.
Somebody please inform Jay-Z that because of my policies, Black Unemployment has just been reported to be at the LOWEST RATE EVER RECORDED!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 28, 2018
"Is this the best press you could have asked for for your show?" CNN host Brian Stelter asked Jones on Sunday.
"I wrote it for him!" Jones joked. "It's sad because we were actually literally discussing the black unemployment rate... The trends are pretty good -- should he get credit for it?"
"Jay-Z said something you don't hear from many billionaires," Jones continued. "'It's not about the money, it's about the respect.' And so, we had a very powerful moment there. Apparently, Trump missed the whole point and actually walked right back into the trap."
The CNN host added: "It's great PR for the show, [but] it's bad for the country when you have a president who wants to lecture an African-American rapper, an African-American pundit about African-American issues with bad facts and no information about the show."
After noting the unemployment had been improving for African-Americans since Barack Obama was in office, Jones gave Trump credit for not doing "terrible things" to upset the status quo.
"But just because we are continuing incremental progress, that doesn't give you the right to be disrespectful," Jones explained. "Jay-Z is setting a better example than Donald Trump."
