Fox News guest Geraldo Rivera has claimed Donald Trump is a “civil-rights leader” due to low African-American unemployment levels during his presidency.
Mr Rivera, a regular contributor on the conservative news channel, made the claim on the morning after Martin Luther King Day in a segment addressing the president’s appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The guest told Fox & Friends he felt “awful” for Mr Trump because the president has had to answer question about his impeachment trial at the summit.
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“This is an economic summit. The American economy is the envy of the world,” Mr Rivera said.
“I call him, to great controversy, a civil-rights leader, especially yesterday on Martin Luther King Day.”
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Trump styles his ‘You’re fired!’ pose in his Trump Tower office in June 2012. At the time he was known as a reality TV star on The Apprentice
Diane Bondareff/Invision/AP
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He was also well known as the patron of the Miss Universe competition
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Early signs of Trump’s ambition for the presidency can be found everywhere. Not least in his 2011 book ‘Time to get tough: Making America #1 again’
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Trump with Piers Morgan in November 2010. Piers Morgan has long held that he and Trump are good friends
Getty
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Trump appeared on Fox & Friends, his favourite show, in August 2011
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Trump considered running in the 2012 election, where he would have faced Barack Obama. He is speaking here at an event for a Republican women’s group
Getty
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Trump was subject to a Comedy Central roast in 2011. He is pictured here being roasted by rapper Snoop Dogg
Getty
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Given that this Trump store is in the lobby of Trump Tower, it can be said that Trump sells merchandise of himself out of his own home
Getty
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Trump held meetings with prominent Republicans when considering his 2012 bid. He is pictured here with Alaska governor Sarah Palin
Getty
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He didn’t end up running in 2012 afterall, instead endorsing Republican candidate Mitt Romney
AFP/Getty
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Trump’s golf course in Aberdeen proved controversial in 2012 when he began lobbying the Scottish government against wind power in order that they wouldn’t install turbines off the shore by his new course
Getty
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He even gave evidence to a Scottish parliamentary committee discouraging wind energy
AFP/Getty
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He still found time for a round of course
AFP/Getty
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On 16 June 2015, Trump announced that he would run for the presidency of the United States in the 2016 election as a Republican
Getty
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His campaign was divisive, courting controversy wherever he went. Ultimately he was declared the Republican candidate in June 2016
Getty
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Trump took part in the TV debate against opponent Hillary Clinton on 9 October
Getty
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Trump and wife Melania vote in the presidential election on 8 November 2016
AFP/Getty
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Hillary Clinton conceded defeat at 2:50am on 9 November and president-elect Trump swiftly delivered his victory speech to a crowd of supporters
Getty
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News coverage around the world focused on the huge political upset that Trump’s victory spelled
AFP/Getty
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Trump met with president Obama to discusss transition planning on 10 November. Obama had fiercely denounced Trump during the election campaign, at one point even swearing that he would not leave the White House if Trump won
AFP/Getty
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Donald Trump and Nigel Farage pose in the golden elevator at Trump Tower on 12 November 2016. Farage was the first British politician to meet with Trump after the election
LeaveEUOffical/Twitter
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The inauguration of Donald Trump took place on 20 January 2017. Trump’s press secretary Sean Spicer boasted that the crowd was the ‘largest ever’ to witness an inauguration, a claim that was proved not to be true
Getty
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In his first 100 days as leader, Trump signed 24 executve orders, the most of any president
AFP/Getty
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One of Trump’s most memorable election pledges was to build a wall between the US and Mexico. He is standing here in front of a prototype for a section of the wall
Getty
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Trump’s meetings with other world leaders have provided no short supply of photo opportunities
Getty
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Trump was welcomed to the UK by the Queen and a state banquet was held at Buckingham Palace in his honour
Reuters
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Not everyone welcomed the president. Mass protests were held in London throughout his visits in both 2018 and 2019
EPA
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One of the most significant meetings Trump has held with another leader was with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. In June 2019, Trump became the first sitting president to set foot in North Korea
Getty
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2020 will see president Trump fight for a second term in office, who knows what the next decade will bring?
Getty
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Trump styles his ‘You’re fired!’ pose in his Trump Tower office in June 2012. At the time he was known as a reality TV star on The Apprentice
Diane Bondareff/Invision/AP
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He was also well known as the patron of the Miss Universe competition
Getty
3/29
Early signs of Trump’s ambition for the presidency can be found everywhere. Not least in his 2011 book ‘Time to get tough: Making America #1 again’
Getty
4/29
Trump with Piers Morgan in November 2010. Piers Morgan has long held that he and Trump are good friends
Getty
5/29
Trump appeared on Fox & Friends, his favourite show, in August 2011
Getty
6/29
Trump considered running in the 2012 election, where he would have faced Barack Obama. He is speaking here at an event for a Republican women’s group
Getty
7/29
Trump was subject to a Comedy Central roast in 2011. He is pictured here being roasted by rapper Snoop Dogg
Getty
8/29
Given that this Trump store is in the lobby of Trump Tower, it can be said that Trump sells merchandise of himself out of his own home
Getty
9/29
Trump held meetings with prominent Republicans when considering his 2012 bid. He is pictured here with Alaska governor Sarah Palin
Getty
10/29
He didn’t end up running in 2012 afterall, instead endorsing Republican candidate Mitt Romney
AFP/Getty
11/29
Trump’s golf course in Aberdeen proved controversial in 2012 when he began lobbying the Scottish government against wind power in order that they wouldn’t install turbines off the shore by his new course
Getty
12/29
He even gave evidence to a Scottish parliamentary committee discouraging wind energy
AFP/Getty
13/29
He still found time for a round of course
AFP/Getty
14/29
On 16 June 2015, Trump announced that he would run for the presidency of the United States in the 2016 election as a Republican
Getty
15/29
His campaign was divisive, courting controversy wherever he went. Ultimately he was declared the Republican candidate in June 2016
Getty
16/29
Trump took part in the TV debate against opponent Hillary Clinton on 9 October
Getty
17/29
Trump and wife Melania vote in the presidential election on 8 November 2016
AFP/Getty
18/29
Hillary Clinton conceded defeat at 2:50am on 9 November and president-elect Trump swiftly delivered his victory speech to a crowd of supporters
Getty
19/29
News coverage around the world focused on the huge political upset that Trump’s victory spelled
AFP/Getty
20/29
Trump met with president Obama to discusss transition planning on 10 November. Obama had fiercely denounced Trump during the election campaign, at one point even swearing that he would not leave the White House if Trump won
AFP/Getty
21/29
Donald Trump and Nigel Farage pose in the golden elevator at Trump Tower on 12 November 2016. Farage was the first British politician to meet with Trump after the election
LeaveEUOffical/Twitter
22/29
The inauguration of Donald Trump took place on 20 January 2017. Trump’s press secretary Sean Spicer boasted that the crowd was the ‘largest ever’ to witness an inauguration, a claim that was proved not to be true
Getty
23/29
In his first 100 days as leader, Trump signed 24 executve orders, the most of any president
AFP/Getty
24/29
One of Trump’s most memorable election pledges was to build a wall between the US and Mexico. He is standing here in front of a prototype for a section of the wall
Getty
25/29
Trump’s meetings with other world leaders have provided no short supply of photo opportunities
Getty
26/29
Trump was welcomed to the UK by the Queen and a state banquet was held at Buckingham Palace in his honour
Reuters
27/29
Not everyone welcomed the president. Mass protests were held in London throughout his visits in both 2018 and 2019
EPA
28/29
One of the most significant meetings Trump has held with another leader was with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. In June 2019, Trump became the first sitting president to set foot in North Korea
Getty
29/29
2020 will see president Trump fight for a second term in office, who knows what the next decade will bring?
Getty
He explained: “African American unemployment – lowest it’s ever been. Latino unemployment – lowest it’s ever been. This rising tide is lifting all boats, we should be celebrating.”
Although both measures have increased in recent months, it is true that the African-American and Hispanic unemployment rates have reached record lows in 2019 – at 5.4 per cent in August and 3.9 per cent in September respectively – according to official statistics.
In December, African-American unemployment was at 5.9 per cent, while Hispanic unemployment was at 4.2 per cent.
Those figures have continued a long-running downward trend in African-American and Hispanic unemployment rates that began during the Obama administration, following an increase after the 2008 financial crash.
Mr Trump has often touted low levels of African-American unemployment as one of his major achievements and even mentioned it in a tweet for Martin Luther King Day.
On Monday, the president appeared to liken himself to the civil rights leader as he boasted about low unemployment figures.
“It was exactly three years ago today, January 20, 2017, that I was sworn into office. So appropriate that today is also MLK jr DAY,” he wrote.
“African-American Unemployment is the LOWEST in the history of our Country, by far.”
However, the president’s record on civil rights has repeatedly come under criticism from activists and campaigners.
In November, the FBI reported that violent hate crimes and threats in the US had reached their highest levels in 16 years, partly due to a surge in attacks on Hispanic people in 2018.
Activists and civil rights researchers have said Mr Trump’s hardline anti-immigration policies and controversial verbal attacks on Latino immigrants carried some responsibility for the rise.
“President Trump frequently refers to Latinos in the most hateful and bigoted ways, and words matter,” Janet Murguia, head of the Washington-based Latino civil rights organisation UnidosUS, said.
“Having just visited El Paso [after the mass shooting in August] and hearing first-hand from the victims of the tragic shooting there, I know that hateful words have hateful consequences, and can result in violence and even death.”
The president also faced widespread criticism in July when he suggested four congresswomen of colour, three of whom were born in the US, should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came”.
Many commentators said Mr Trump’s statement was racist – including Mr Rivera, who told The New York Times: “As much as I have denied it and averted my eyes from it, this latest incident made it impossible.”
“I do insist that he’s been treated unfairly. But the unmistakable words, the literal words he said, is an indication that the critics were much more right than I,” Mr Rivera added.
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