Dispatches of alarm and hope, on politics and society, democracy and justice. Because silence is not an option. We may read and write alone, but we drive change together. The Intensified Assault on Factual Reality Firing the messenger who delivered bad economic news is the latest sign that Trump is failing. He'll manipulate more data as the economy worsens. Steven Beschloss Aug 4 Pinocchio sees Trump. (Trump photo by Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images) Don’t like that the non-partisan Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has found rising unemployment and a struggling economy? Shoot the messenger and claim she’s politically motivated and can’t be trusted. Next plan to replace this highly respected BLS commissioner with a sycophant who will deliver the statistics you want. Then: Nothing but good news! The economy is hot! America is winning! The loser, of course, is all of us. Democracy depends on an informed public. A successful economy depends on reliable data so policymakers can make informed decisions. Introduce untrustworthy information into the equation, expect an increasingly troubled economy. When facts are replaced with bloviating and propaganda, expect more chaos and confusion. But that doesn’t matter to a narcissistic despot whose main interest is to convince the public he’s succeeding at his job. Every day is a chance to prove that he is right and his enemies are wrong. Untethered from reality, he is not about to let any agency of the government doubt his fantasies. None of us should be surprised that Donald Trump on Friday fired Erika McEntarfer, the BLS commissioner who was confirmed last year with 86 senate votes. This respected labor official has had a long career at the Census Bureau and elsewhere in government—and has served under Republicans and Democrats. Vice President JD Vance was one of the senators who confirmed her as commissioner last year. But McEntarfer had to go after releasing data that displeased Trump. The July jobs report indicated slowing labor market growth with only 73,000 jobs added and an unemployment rate that rose to 4.2 percent. The report also provided another economic warning sign by revising downward the data from the previous two months—a common practice following seasonal adjustments and additional information. The report noted that the economy had added 258,000 fewer jobs in May and June than previously reported. The thin-skinned tyrant could not bear the bad news. He was not about to let facts get in the way of his delusions and lies. “In my opinion, today’s Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad,” he posted, insisting that the country is “doing GREAT!” Then one of Trump’s propagandists was sent out to spew more lies justifying his decision to fire yet another respected public servant. The BLS’ “data has been historically inaccurate and led by a totally incompetent individual,” said Taylor Rogers, a White House spokesperson. “President Trump believes businesses, households and policymakers deserve accurate data when making major policy decisions, and he will restore America’s trust in this key data.” Folks, this is the latest evidence that we have exited the world of democratic governance that depends on reliable data to make responsible decisions. Instead, we are now being held hostage by a walking, non-stop talking malignancy who refuses to let facts get in the way of his imaginary picture of winning leadership. This dangerous degradation—this war on legitimate measurement—follows an ongoing pattern of attacking researchers, agencies and watchdogs that produce disagreeable findings: Firing analysts who deliver intelligence reports he dislikes; rejecting the findings of the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office when it makes projections that don’t support his inflated boasts about the Big Beautiful Bill; firing Department of Education staff that collect data about student performance; cutting public health teams that report on substance abuse, mental health and maternal mortality; ending grants and firing scientists throughout the government; and stopping the collection of greenhouse gas emissions statistics as a precursor to cutting the regulations intended to slow the impact of climate change. As I noted in an April On-Target conversation, “This disappearance of data undermines evidence-based assessments and policymaking and increases the authoritarian regime’s control as the public lacks facts to hold them accountable.” Again, none of this is surprising. Trump has always depended on pushing propaganda. His constant repetition of lies ever since he descended his golden escalator is intended to degrade the public’s capacity to know what’s right and wrong, what’s true and false. With an increasingly ill-informed electorate, an authoritarian ruler’s power increases. You can’t trust the data, he insists, so trust what I tell you. We have not yet felt the full force of this demolition of factual reality, although we got a massive indication of it with his success at convincing his cult followers to distrust the outcome of the 2020 election and believe that the violent insurrectionists on Jan. 6 were actually peace-loving patriots who don’t belong in prison. But this latest undermining of trust in the essential data by which businesses, investors and the general public make decisions is another step toward full-fledged authoritarianism in which only the ruler’s word matters. We have every reason to worry that Trump will do his utmost to wrest control from the independent BLS and manipulate its data, causing more honest public servants to exit government. This portends increasingly turbulent days for the economy, already roiled by Trump’s moronic tariff policies. The best way through this is straight ahead. That requires expanding media literacy, supporting independent journalism that relies on facts, backing endangered public media, and holding accountable government officials who are participating in this desecration of our systems and databases. We cannot give in to this regime’s goal of convincing us that we are powerless to fight back. We must not allow ourselves to ignore what our eyes, ears and brains are telling us. We should take this latest firing as a reminder that Trump is failing—that he can only survive by stripping away the people and the information that reveal the truth. He may win a battle here and there, but this is a war that he will lose. I remain certain that the truth will ultimately prevail, but it depends on this America, America community and millions of others dedicated to democracy and factual reality—Americans who are not about to let a two-bit conman and pathological liar decide our fate.