Trump Calls Minority Poverty Rates the 'Highest and Best' — Bro, What the Hell Are We Celebrating?

Donald Trump was in Kansas bragging about the economy when he managed to describe poverty rates among Black, Hispanic and Native American communities as both the 'highest' and the 'best' ever recorded. How the hell do you brag about poverty being the highest while calling it the best? That's like celebrating record unemployment because everybody finally got free time. At some point you gotta listen to the shit coming out of your mouth.

And before somebody starts screaming that his words were twisted, let's be clear: he was apparently trying to say poverty rates were low. A verbal screwup isn't proof he wants minority communities poor. But when you make a career out of mocking other people's intelligence, people are absolutely going to notice when you butcher your own economic talking point.

The bigger story is the numbers behind the bragging. The Census Bureau reported the official national poverty rate at 10.2% in 2025 and the Hispanic poverty rate at 13.9%. Those are improvements worth acknowledging. But the Black poverty rate was still 17.3%. You can recognize progress without pretending the problem is solved.

The Supplemental Poverty Measure, which takes into account taxes, government benefits and major expenses, was 13.1% in 2025. That matters because an official poverty statistic and what it feels like to pay rent, groceries and medical bills are not identical things. Politicians love whichever number gives them the better applause line.

My issue isn't that somebody stumbled over a word. People misspeak. It's the ease with which politicians announce victory for communities still dealing with hardship. Poverty declining is good news. But the goal shouldn't be having poverty statistics worth bragging about. The goal should be having fewer people living in poverty. And somebody needs to remind the president there's a pretty big difference between the highest and the lowest.