In a recent campaign event in Asheboro, North Carolina, former President Donald Trump introduced a new angle in his criticism of the current administration. He questioned the integrity of revised job creation numbers released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), an independent agency responsible for collecting and analyzing labor market data.
Trump claimed, without evidence, that the Biden-Harris administration was "manipulating job statistics" and attempting to delay the disclosure of updated figures until after the November 2024 election. The BLS had announced a downward revision of 818,000 jobs created between April 2023 and March 2024, the largest such adjustment since 2009.
Economists from various political backgrounds swiftly rebutted Trump's assertions. Michael Strain, a conservative economist at the American Enterprise Institute, stated:
"President Trump's attacks on the integrity of the BLS are grossly irresponsible and completely inaccurate. The revisions occur every year, including President Trump's time in office, and there is nothing remotely scandalous here and to imply otherwise is egregious."
It's important to note that job creation numbers are regularly revised as more accurate data becomes available. In fact, during Trump's own administration in 2019, the BLS revised down its jobs estimate by more than 500,000.
The speech, which was intended to focus on national security, often veered into personal attacks against Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump acknowledged his difficulty in staying focused on policy issues, even polling the crowd on whether they preferred personal attacks or policy discussions.
Trump also criticized the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, which occurred during the Biden-Harris administration. He claimed that the country was "on the brink of World War III" and boasted about stopping wars with "phone calls" during his presidency.
The event marked Trump's second visit to North Carolina in a week, a state where he currently leads Harris by one point according to The Washington Post's polling average. The last Democratic presidential candidate to win North Carolina was Barack Obama in 2008.
This rally was Trump's first outdoor campaign event with bulletproof glass, a security measure implemented following a recent assassination attempt. The location, Randolph County, has been a stronghold for Trump, with him receiving 78% of the vote in 2020 and 77% in 2016.
As the 2024 presidential election approaches, it's crucial for voters to critically evaluate claims made by all candidates and rely on authoritative sources for economic data and other important information.