In the wake of President Trump’s firing of the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday, KRC executive director and economist Stephen Herzenberg put out the following statement:
“Following President Trump’s firing of BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, it has been heartening to see Republican Senators join the chorus of economists, other policymakers, and President Trump’s own appointee as BLS Commissioner in his first term criticizing this outrage. For Keystone Research Center, the President’s action is of particular concern because we regularly comment on the monthly job figures, confident in their accuracy and of the impeccable credibility of the non-partisan BLS. Will the President now implement changes that lead to exactly the charge that he baselessly leveled at BLS on Friday—an attempt to begin cooking the books?
“Trump’s action reminds us of the wisdom of former New York Republican Senator Daniel Patrick Moyhnihan, who once said, ‘You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts.’ President Trump serially demonstrates that he feels otherwise. Lose an election, claim it was stolen. Tank the economy, claim the jobs numbers are wrong and fire the person who helps ensure their accuracy. There’s a pattern here, folks. More and more Americans are onto it. And more and more Americans are tired of it.”