US Politics
Former BLS chair breaks silence on being fired by Trump and going from unknown to ‘household name’
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The former Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) commissioner has broken her silence after she was fired by Donald Trump last month.
Speaking at her alma mater, the Levy Economics Institute at Bard College, Erika McEntarfer spoke of how her “quiet and usually obscure little corner [of] the government” ended with her being “very publicly fired by the president of the United States”, according to reports.
“August 1 was like any other first Friday of the month when the job numbers come out, and my quiet and usually obscure little corner [of] the government goes about its business of telling political leaders what these data tell us about the state of the economy,” said in prepared remarks at the event reported by Bloomberg.
“Except, by the end of that day, I had been very publicly fired by the president of the United States and was on my way to becoming a household name. It was quite a day, to say the least.”
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The former BLS chief only learned she had been fired when she was contacted by a reporter asking for comment on Trump’s social media post calling for her to be sacked.
The move sparked outrage from a number of McEntarfer’s predecessors and other top officials at the BLS fired back in a statement from a group called the “Friends of the BLS”: “The President seeks to blame someone for unwelcome economic news.”
Trump accused McEntarfer of falsifying jobs numbers to disadvantage him politically.
He said on Truth Social: “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.”
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His critics warned that the firing and unsupported explanation meant that future figures released by the agency would be thrown into question.
McEntarfer said on Tuesday: “I can vouch for the accuracy and independence of the work of the agency up until the moment I was fired.”
Trump has since appointed EJ Antoni, chief economist at the Heritage Foundation, to step into the role. The decision sparked criticism due to Antoni’s vocal MAGA views and inexperience.
