Trump says 'something very special' is happening 'in terms of race' in America

A new CBS poll found 63 percent of Americans do not approve of the way he is handling racial issues, Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan told President Trump in an interview airing Sunday — but Trump did not let that little detail impair his glowing assessment of his own performance on this point.

"What has happened is very interesting," he replied. "The economy is so good right now. ... [And] I think I've been given a lot of credit for that. And in terms of race, a lot of people are saying, 'Well, this is something very special, what's happening,'" Trump continued. "And I think [African Americans] like me a lot, and I like them a lot."

Brennan also pressed Trump on professional athletes' protests of police brutality and racial injustice, demonstrations he has vehemently denounced. Where in the past he has said athletes "should not be allowed" to protest by taking a knee during the national anthem, Trump now claimed some sympathy for their cause and objection only to their methods.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

A "lot of people in the NFL have been calling and thanking" him, Trump said, for signing the bipartisan First Step Act, a criminal justice reform bill Trump described to Brennan as a complete and permanent solution to institutional problems in the U.S. justice system. "President Obama tried. They all tried. Everybody wanted to do it. And I got it done," he said.

First Step only applies to the federal prison system, which means about nine in 10 of America's 2.1 million inmates won't be affected, and it was considered by criminal justice reform advocates to be an important but ultimately limited measure.

Read Trump's full interview here, or watch it on CBS in two portions airing at 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Eastern.