BET Founder Says Trump Economy Is Great for Black American Jobs

FILE - In this Nov. 20, 2016 file photo, President-elect Donald Trump stands with BET foun
AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File

Black Entertainment Television (BET) founder Robert Johnson said that President Donald Trump is one of the best things to ever happen to the job market for black Americans.

Appearing on CNBC’s Squawk Box, the self-made billionaire insisted that despite the current lower-than-expected number of jobs created in March, the Trump economy is strong.

“When you look at that [January report], you have to say something is going right,” said the Democratic entrepreneur.

Johnson then added that Trump has been a boon for the black community.

“You have to take encouragement from what’s happening in the labor force and the job market,” Johnson told Squawk Box. “When you look at African-American unemployment, … you’ve never had African-American unemployment this low and the spread between African-Americans and whites narrowing.”

The television pioneer added that Trump’s policies have brought back into the job market people who have been out for a long time, “some of it based on discrimination, some of it based on changes in education, access and technology changes.”

Johnson said that Trump’s tax cuts also helped bring this economy to full speed, saying: “Business is very good. I believe that if you take into account the Trump tax cut, you take into account the drop in unemployment, and particularly unemployment for African Americans — it’s the lowest it’s ever been in history — and you take into account the fact that interest rates are fairly stable, the economy is going to keep growing.”

He concluded saying that the Trump economy is “on a strong growth path.”

At the end of 2016, Johnson insisted that he turned down a position in Trump’s administration because he does not want any sort of government job.

“But I can’t work for the government,” he said that November, “because to me as an entrepreneur trying to work in a government structure where you got to go through 15 different layers of decision-making to get want you want done doesn’t fit my mold.”

During his campaign, Trump insisted that he would sponsor policies that would create a “new deal” for blacks in America. And Johnson himself added that Trump had committed to “reach out” to black Americans.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.

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