Why does my barbarian not get rage damage when he punches someone?

@mikemearls Why does my barbarian not get rage damage or reckless attacks when he punches someone?

— Kevin Freeman (@Kithas48) August 12, 2017

I give up. Why does your barbarian not get rage damage or reckless attacks when he punches someone? https://t.co/ejV4B0Jerx

— Mike Mearls (@mikemearls) August 12, 2017

Unarmed strikes can be used for any melee weapon attack, as long as it doesn’t specify that it uses a weapon.

— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) August 12, 2017

Is it understandable that “make a melee weapon attack” sounds like it is specifying to use a melee weapon for an attack?Is it intuitive? Not really, which is why the rules tell you that unarmed strikes do work. The rules make an explicit exception.

— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) August 12, 2017