E.J. Antoni, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics, made a key political connection in graduate school with someone in Trump’s inner circle who later lobbied for him to lead the country’s top statistical agency.

Longtime Trump adviser and economist Stephen Moore met Antoni when he was completing his doctorate in economics at Northern Illinois University in the late 2010s, Moore said.

They were introduced by Antoni’s cousin, Vince Coglianese, the right-wing podcast host and editorial director — and former editor in chief — at the conservative must-read website The Daily Caller, Moore said. Moore said he was “very impressed” upon meeting Antoni, describing him as “earnest” and “very careful in his work.” Advertisement Advertisement

Antoni “has a really go

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