‘Banana Republic’: Social Media Reacts to Trump Firing Statistics Chief After Bleak Jobs Report
President Donald Trump fired the commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor, Dr. Erika McEntarfer, on Friday after her agency released a disappointing jobs report earlier in the day.
According to said report, the U.S. added only 73,000 jobs in July, which was fewer than was expected. The same report also indicated that it added 258,000 fewer jobs in May and June than was originally estimated.
Trump announced McEntarfer’s ouster on Truth Social Friday afternoon:
I was just informed that our Country’s “Jobs Numbers” are being produced by a Biden Appointee, Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the Commissioner of Labor Statistics, who faked the Jobs Numbers before the Election to try and boost Kamala’s chances of Victory. This is the same Bureau of Labor Statistics that overstated the Jobs Growth in March 2024 by approximately 818,000 and, then again, right before the 2024 Presidential Election, in August and September, by 112,000. These were Records — No one can be that wrong? We need accurate Jobs Numbers. I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY. She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified. Important numbers like this must be fair and accurate, they can’t be manipulated for political purposes. McEntarfer said there were only 73,000 Jobs added (a shock!) but, more importantly, that a major mistake was made by them, 258,000 Jobs downward, in the prior two months. Similar things happened in the first part of the year, always to the negative. The Economy is BOOMING under “TRUMP” despite a Fed that also plays games, this time with Interest Rates, where they lowered them twice, and substantially, just before the Presidential Election, I assume in the hopes of getting “Kamala” elected – How did that work out? Jerome “Too Late” Powell should also be put “out to pasture.” Thank you for your attention to this matter!
As one might expect, the reactions are rolling in.
“Banana Republic hours,” commented Niskanen Center employment policy fellow Matt Darling.
“He claims without proof the data is being politically manipulated,” reported CBS’s Ed O’Keefe.
“Can’t wait to buy more treasuries in the country purging its job statistics staff when they don’t show the leader’s economy is booming,” quipped The Washington Post‘s Benjy Sarlin.
“Ahhh…there it is,” observed Yashar Ali.
Not everyone was displeased, or distrustful of Trump’s allegations.
But many were alarmed:
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