Even Trump says he doesn’t know ‘where the hell’ his own false claim about Black unemployment came from

President Donald Trump uses too much related to fictional statistics. He usually deploys them with cheerful confidence.

at once activity But on Friday in Wisconsin, he made a statistical claim that seemed so obviously dubious that he wondered aloud where it came from.

“We’ve also had huge declines — and let me tell you, it’s incredible: African-American unemployment is better now than it’s ever been. And I don’t know where that statistic comes from, but I’ll take it,” he said. “I don’t know where that statistic comes from – but we’ll take it.”

The mysterious “statistic” is not true.

The most recent unemployment rate for Black or African Americans was: 6.6% in MayFederal statistics show this (all unemployment figures in this article are seasonally adjusted). That marks an improvement from the previous rate of 7.3 percent in April and 8.2 percent last November, the highest rate of Trump’s second term; but it’s nowhere near a record low.

In fact, this rate is higher than the rate Trump inherited when he returned to office.

The Black or African American unemployment rate was 6.2% in January 2025, his second inauguration, and 6.1% in December 2024, former President Joe Biden’s last month in office. In fact, last month’s rate of 6.6% is higher than the rate in both countries. last 34 full months Biden administration from March 2022 to December 2024.

The record-low Black or African American unemployment rate (a record since at least the inception of this federal data set in the early 1970s) is 4.8%. Established in April 2023 under the Biden administration. The previous record low of 5.3 percent was set in August 2019 and September 2019 during Trump’s first term. However, during Trump’s second term, this rate did not fall below 6 percent.

And since Trump vaguely talked about “big drops,” it’s worth noting that even the 0.7 percentage point drop in the Black or African American unemployment rate from 7.3% to 6.6% between April 2026 and May 2026 is not a record month-to-month drop. For example, under the Biden administration, there was a 0.9 point decrease from March 2024 to April 2024, from 6.5% to 5.6%. (It’s always wiser to look at multi-month trends rather than one-month changes, which can be statistically variable, but we’re covering our fact-checking basics here.)

It was unclear whether Trump improvised the lie or quoted from his prepared text. The White House has not yet responded to CNN’s requests for comment on the allegation, which were sent Friday night and Saturday morning.

Under presidents of both major parties, the unemployment rate for Black or African Americans was consistently higher than the rates of other racial groups. overall national unemployment rate It was at 4.3 percent in May.

Other fake Trump numbers

Trump also used other false and long-debunked so-called statistics. Wisconsin incident on Friday. Among the questions he did not question out loud were:

• His repeated claim that “$18 trillion” has been invested in the United States. This is an imaginary figure, much higher than the “10.6 trillion dollars” figure. The White House’s own website As of Saturday, it has been used for so-called “major investment announcements” during this period – and even the White House figure great exaggeration.

• His repeated claim that “25 million” immigrants have been allowed into the country under Biden. This is not even close to the truth; The federal government during the final month of the Biden administration recorded There have been just under 11 million immigrant “encounters” nationwide during this administration, including millions of people who were quickly deported from the country. Even if we add the so-called escapees that escape detection, estimated There’s no way the total is anywhere near Trump’s number, considering there are about 2.2 million people, according to House Republicans.

• He repeatedly claimed that “the Biden administration is experiencing the worst inflation in our country’s history.” (He added that others said “49 years, 48 ​​years” instead of the date, but said he still thought it would “last forever.”) The Biden era, when inflation is at its peak, 9.1% in June 2022It was the highest in 40 to 41 years, not 48 years, and it was an all-time high. 23.7%That’s up from 14.8 percent in 1920, or 1980, the high point of Jimmy Carter’s presidency. (And by January 2025, the month Trump took office, this rate had fallen to 2020.) 3%.)

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