General Discussion

Confronted with evidence of his own failure, Trump announced that he’s changing course and pursuing a more responsible economic direction.

No, I’m just kidding. He’s actually firing the commissioner of labor statistics. NBC News reported:

President Donald Trump on Friday ordered the firing of the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, hours after a stunning government report showed that hiring had slowed down significantly over the past three months. Taking to Truth Social, he attacked Erika McEntarfer, the commissioner of the BLS. He claimed that the country’s jobs reports ‘are being produced by Biden appointee’ and ordered his administration to terminate her.

......Trump, without a shred of evidence or shame, proceeded to claim that McEntarfer had secretly conspired against him during the 2024 campaign — a bizarre claim, given that the job totals in the months leading up to Election Day really weren’t great — before flubbing basic facts about Labor Department reports that anyone in an Economics 101 course would recognize as absurd.

It was at this point that Trump added, “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.”

The irony was rich.

The president concluded, “The Economy is BOOMING under ‘TRUMP,’” overlooking the inconvenient fact that Americans are dealing with sluggish growth, stubborn inflation, an anemic job market and a slumping manufacturing sector.

For now, I’m not going to dwell on the fact that McEntarfer is a respected, highly qualified career civil servant who’s done nothing wrong and who deserves better than to be fired and smeared with conspiratorial garbage.....

Trump, in true authoritarian fashion, fired the labor statistics chief for doing her job and telling the truth — which the president didn’t want to hear. He’ll now seek out someone new who’ll deliver job statistics that make him happy, knowing full well that McEntarfer’s successor must understand that failure to satisfy Trump will lead to their ouster, too.....

This isn’t how Americans govern; it’s how despots rule.