'Shoot the messenger': Democrats condemn Trump's call to fire BLS chief

Source: Politico

08/01/2025 04:29 PM EDT


Democrats condemned President Donald Trump’s call to fire the head of the Labor Department official in charge of producing jobs data after the latest report showed job growth lower than expected.

Trump’s social media post demanding the firing of Commissioner of Labor Statistics Erika McEntarfer was met with swift criticism from Democratic leaders, who accused Trump of blaming underwhelming economic data on the official rather than on policies they say contributed to worse economic conditions.

“What does a bad leader do when they get bad news? Shoot the messenger,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a floor speech moments after Trump’s post. “That’s just what happened with the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.”

“Instead of helping people get good jobs, Donald Trump just fired the statistician who reported bad jobs data that the wanna-be king doesn’t like,” Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said on X. Other Democrats likened Trump’s demand to actions taken by totalitarian governments. New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich called the move “pure Soviet shit.”

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/01/democrats-condemn-trump-fire-bls-chief-00489063