New York —

Hours before President Donald Trump fired former Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner Erika McEntarfer this month, E.J. Antoni appeared on former White House strategist Steve Bannon’s podcast to discuss the BLS’ monthly jobs report , which showed much-lower-than-expected numbers for July and shockingly steep revisions for May and June.

Antoni called McEntarfer “incompetent” for failing to fix data collection and interpretation problems at the BLS that have led to major revisions in recent years. He agreed with Bannon on the solution: A MAGA Republican who “Trump knows and trusts” should be put into the position.

“We still haven’t gotten there,” Antoni said of a Trump loyalist running the BLS. “And I think that’s part of the reason why we continue to have all of the

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