Post-Truth America: Weak Job Numbers, so Trump Fires BLS Head

[Analytics]

Who didn’t see this coming. Some bad economic numbers came in today. Rather than dealing with it like a world leader, Trump is firing the head of the agency that delivered the bad news news. Trump will hire somebody who will tell Trump what he wants to hear, America’s credibility will continue to decline, and business will turn to other sources to hear the truth.

This can't be good for the economy.

What a banana republic.

Live Updates: After a Weak Jobs Report, Trump Says He’s Firing That Agency’s Commissioner
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/07/31 ... =url-share

Hours after data showed cracks in the U.S. economy, President Trump implied that Erika McEntarfer manipulated the data for political reasons. He didn’t offer any evidence to support his claim.

Hours after disappointing jobs data reflected cracks in the U.S. economy, President Trump said Friday that he planned to fire the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Erika McEntarfer, and implied on social media that she had manipulated the monthly data for political reasons.

Mr. Trump offered no evidence to support his claim. He and his top aides have made a habit of attacking government agencies, researchers and watchdogs when they have produced findings that the president personally does not like. That has led to concerns that he could seek to interfere with the operations of the bureau and other statistical agencies, particularly if the economy begins to take a turn for the worse.

Shortly after the president post, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the Labor secretary, echoed Mr. Trump’s concerns about Dr. McEntarfer on social media and said that William Wiatrowski, the deputy commissioner, would serve as acting commissioner during the search for Dr. McEntarfer’s replacement.

According to the data released early Friday, U.S. employers added 73,000 jobs in July, less than economists expected, and the unemployment rate rose slightly. The report on also significantly revised down the data on hiring from May and June by a combined 258,000 jobs, suggesting the labor market was under greater strain than initially believed. That moved the bond market in particular, with U.S. Treasury yields falling sharply as investors anticipated that the Federal Reserve could be more willing to cut interest rates to bolster a flagging economy.

Financial markets were also rattled as investors grappled with the implications: Stocks fell and the dollar dropped against other major currencies.

The jobs data offered only the latest indication that Mr. Trump’s policies — particularly his global trade war, which the president expanded on Thursday — had started to put the squeeze on the economy. Other economic data released this week offered fresh evidence that Mr. Trump’s duties had slowed trade and started to send prices higher.

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

I believe the Administration stopped collecting inflation data in May and are now guesstimating it in their reports - I’m open to a fact check on that. Whatever the case may be, the “Leader of the Free World” and his cabinet make the movie Idiocracy look pale in comparison. We look like fools on the world stage.

And yet, not even this will change their minds because they don’t like The BrownsTM. These fools will drive us all straight to Hell and think they’re doing Gawd’s work the entire time.

- Doc

[Doctor Steuss]

The US Dollar Index, which had recently crawled its way above 100 for the first time since May, dropped right back down below 99 following Trump's incompetent unhinged authoritarian screed (down about 10% since he took office).

It's going to be super fun paying for all of MAGA's massive deficit spending with a weak dollar and high bond market prices.

Even more capital flight incoming.

[Gunnar]

I had no doubt this was coming. It has long been obvious to me that he has very few, if any, moral scruples at all. Whether or not something is true or not matters very little to him. This is so glaringly obvious that I am deeply perplexed by how many seemingly can't or refuse to see it. All he cares about is what he perceives as useful to himself and his agenda, whether true or not. He has frequently demonstrated that he will preemptively fire anyone he perceives or has already shown that they dare to tell him what he doesn't want to hear or refuse to lie or break the law on his behalf. Very few Republicans nowadays dare stand up to him or tell him truths he would rather not know. How did this former "land of the free and home of the brave" wind up producing, in more recent times, so many abject and/or corrupt cowards who will cravenly overlook and/or obey any corrupt thing he demands of them?

What makes things even more scary is the largely successful scheme to fill our courts, especially the Supreme Court, with extreme conservative and authoritarian Idealogues who disdain real democracy and diversity are effectively owned by corrupt Billionaires whose main, if not sole, concern, is maximizing without limit their own wealth and power, as brilliantly and courageously documented by Sheldon Whitehouse's The Scheme Series.

[Chap]

Whether or not something is true or not matters very little to him. This is so glaringly obvious that I am deeply perplexed by how many seemingly can't or refuse to see it. All he cares about is what he perceives as useful to himself and his agenda, whether true or not

I think this is slightly off target.

The fact is that Trump simply does not recognise the distinction between truth and non-truth. That distinction is meaningless to him. What he does recognise is the distinction between assertions that help him toward his goal of unlimited power and wealth, and those assertions not helpful to him in that regard. Nothing else matters.

[Gunnar]

Whether or not something is true or not matters very little to him. This is so glaringly obvious that I am deeply perplexed by how many seemingly can't or refuse to see it. All he cares about is what he perceives as useful to himself and his agenda, whether true or not

I think this is slightly off target.

The fact is that Trump simply does not recognise the distinction between truth and non-truth. That distinction is meaningless to him. What he does recognise is the distinction between assertions that help him toward his goal of unlimited power and wealth, and those assertions not helpful to him in that regard. Nothing else matters.

Isn't that basically what I just said? I certainly agree with all that! I will admit that you said it better, though!

[Gadianton]

Hours after data showed cracks in the U.S. economy, President Trump implied that Erika McEntarfer manipulated the data for political reasons. He didn’t offer any evidence to support his claim.

Hours after disappointing jobs data reflected cracks in the U.S. economy, President Trump said Friday that he planned to fire the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Erika McEntarfer,

Ceeboo would say the NYT has TDS. Any sane person would agree that firing the messenger of bad news while making a big public stink about it and suggesting fraud is rational behavior becoming of a world leader.

[Moksha]

The fact is that Trump simply does not recognise the distinction between truth and non-truth. That distinction is meaningless to him. What he does recognise is the distinction between assertions that help him toward his goal of unlimited power and wealth, and those assertions that are not helpful to him in that regard. Nothing else matters.

That will stand as a summation of all information from the Trump administration, as he leads the charge for America's downfall.

[Gunnar]

The fact is that Trump simply does not recognise the distinction between truth and non-truth. That distinction is meaningless to him. What he does recognise is the distinction between assertions that help him toward his goal of unlimited power and wealth, and those assertions that are not helpful to him in that regard. Nothing else matters.

That will stand as a summation of all information from the Trump administration, as he leads the charge for America's downfall.

Yes. It is hard to overstate how blazingly obvious this has by now become. Yet his MAGA base still seems to remain stubbornly oblivious to it. They will blindly overlook or forgive glaringly serious misbehavior and mistakes of which Trump is clearly guilty that they would mercilessly excoriate anyone else for doing--especially Democrats.

[Moksha]

Yes. It is hard to overstate how blazingly obvious this has by now become. Yet his MAGA base still seems to remain stubbornly oblivious to it. They will blindly overlook or forgive glaringly serious misbehavior and mistakes of which Trump is clearly guilty that they would mercilessly excoriate anyone else for doing--especially Democrats.

As MAGA Country Western would say:

"Tell me lies
Tell me big flippin' lies."