Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) delivered a blistering critique of President Donald Trump on MSNBC, denouncing his appointment of E.J. Antoni, a partisan right-wing economist, to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The move has drawn sharp criticism, especially after Antoni publicly called for suspending the release of jobs reports entirely.
“I thought Donald Trump was voted into office to handle the economy, almost a single issue,” anchor Alicia Menendez said during the interview. “Well, I think that he lied,” Jayapal responded. “He lied to people and said that he was going to bring down costs on day one.
And the reality is that that is not at all what he’s done. His tariffs, his unhinged tariff policy, have raised prices for everyday Americans on everything that they need to survive.” Jayapal, a leading progressive voice in Congress, said she recently met with small business owners who are struggling under Trump’s trade policies.
“I just had a small business roundtable, and I’m hearing about all of the ways in which these small businesses already operate on narrow margins,” she said. “And now with the unpredictability, the uncertainty, and the crazy tariff policy, they are really struggling.
Many are closing. And I think across the board now, Trump’s answer to this is lie some more, install somebody at the Bureau of Labor Statistics who is going to give him a jobs report that he likes, not a jobs report that is true.” According to Jayapal, the stakes are high. She warned that even financial leaders are concerned about the implications of replacing independent analysts with political loyalists.
“Even Wall Street executives are saying, what do we do in this unprecedented situation where Trump has created so much … despair about these government agencies providing factual information that he’s now going to install his own and rig the statistics,” she said.
“He tried to rig the election. Now he wants to rig the statistics. And I think that this is a real problem.” Jayapal argued that, despite any manipulation of official data, Americans will still feel the effects of inflation and rising costs. “At the end of the day, though … I think people are still going to see their prices going up,” she said.
“You can rig the statistics, but you can’t rig the cash at home. It only goes so far. And so, you know — but it’s a very serious and dangerous situation for the United States.” The White House has not responded to Jayapal’s comments. The Senate has yet to vote on Antoni’s appointment.