In the wake of the Bureau of Labor Statistics head’s dismissal, former White House communication official Anthony Scaramucci has ridiculed President Donald Trump‘s recent efforts to rectify the situation.
What Happened: Scaramucci dismissed Trump’s praise for charts produced by the Heritage Foundation and presented by economist Stephen Moore.
These charts purportedly demonstrated an increase in household income, a figure that Trump lauded as “an incredible number.”
Speaking with MSNBC regarding Trump’s ongoing criticism of the former BLS head and the new income figures, Scaramucci said, “There’s lies and there are damn lies and then there are statistics. You can take the statistics and cut them any which way that you want.”
“It’s hard to see the charts with all the gold leaf. It’s like shining so brightly behind them but it’s a mixed bag, the economy is a mixed bag. You can go through the economy and pick out things that are doing okay, and you can see the underlying surface cracks in the economy and you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see that there’s a slowdown coming,” he added.
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Scaramucci also humorously commented on Trump’s refurbishment of the Oval Office to mirror Mar-a-Lago, making the charts difficult to see.
He characterized the economy as a “mixed bag” with apparent “surface cracks” signaling a potential slowdown. He ended by describing the president’s actions as “a little bit ridiculous.”
Why It Matters: This incident underscores the ongoing controversy surrounding the dismissal of the BLS head and the subsequent handling of job statistics by the Trump administration. Scaramucci’s comments highlight the skepticism and criticism faced by the administration in its attempts to portray a positive economic outlook amidst potential signs of a slowdown.
The use of statistics in this context has been a point of contention, with critics arguing that they can be manipulated to present a misleading picture of the economy.
The situation continues to evolve, with the administration’s handling of economic data remaining a critical issue.
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