WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump doubled down on his baseless claims that Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs numbers have been “rigged” against him as a CNBC news anchor confronted him about the allegations.
“It’s a highly political situation. It’s totally rigged. Smart people know it. People with common sense know it,” Trump said in an Aug. 5 appearance on CNBC’s Squawk Box.
Trump, on Friday, Aug. 1, fired Erika McEntarfer, the U.S. commissioner of Labor Statistics, accusing her without evidence of manipulating jobs data for “political purposes” after the Labor Department reported the United States added a disappointing 73,000 jobs in July. The BLS also revised downward the jobs gains in May and June by 258,000, portraying a much weaker labor market than the one Trump had boasted about.
More: President Trump orders firing of Labor statistics chief after weak jobs report
Joe Kernen, co-host of Squawk Box, countered the president by telling him it’s a “big leap” to say the agency’s jobs revisions, which were based on statistical changes, mean the system is “rigged.”
Kernen noted that the BLS relies on an “antiquated system” of mailed surveys to Americans to compile employment figures.
Kernen added that Trump’s decision to fire the McEntarfer would invite criticism about his replacement. “Critics are going to say, ‘Hey, he’s picking a guy or a gal that’s going to give him the numbers that he wants.’ So it undermines confidence in the system to some extent.”
“That is maybe a bridge too far, according to most people,” Kernen said.
Trump defended the move: “I think when somebody says the commissioner is not involved, I don’t want to get into any arguments with anybody, why should I? She’s a very nice woman, but when they say that nobody was involved, that it wasn’t political, give me a break.”
During his appearance on CNBC, Trump also falsely stated that the jobs numbers from 2024 during Joe Biden’s presidency were revised lower two weeks after the November election.
“Two weeks later, they said I was right,” Trump said.
In reality, the Labor Department in August 2024 ‒ three months before the election ‒ announced that it reduced the estimate of total new jobs created between April 2023 to March 2024 by 818,000, the largest such downgrade in 15 years.
In response to Trump’s claims, former Labor Statistics commissioners have said that manipulating the jobs data would be virtually impossible, noting the final jobs figures are based solely on data reports and that hundreds of employees provide input on the calculations.
Trump has suggested he could name a replacement for McEntarfer as soon as this week.
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump’s claims of ‘rigged’ jobs numbers challenged by CNBC host
