Trump Firing Labor Statistics Chief For Reporting Job Growth Slump is Orwellian, Authoritarian
WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Donald Trump has ordered the firing of Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner Erika McEntarfer, after baselessly accusing her of manipulating job numbers to downplay job growth during his administration.
In response to the firing, Public Citizen co-president Robert Weissman issued the following statement:
“Trump has made a career of calling up down, and calling the truth a lie. But the threat to the integrity of the Bureau of Labor Statistics – the trusted source of objective, factual information about the state of the economy – is a Newspeak project of a whole other level and will undermine not just public understanding but evidence-based policymaking altogether.
“As with so much else under Trump, this move is profoundly troubling, but not surprising. Authoritarians always try to control and dominate the information landscape to undermine opposition to their harmful policies.
“Yet again, to advance his narrow, personal and political interests, Donald Trump is undermining the interests of the United States and leaving us a weaker and more vulnerable nation.”