Sydney Sweeney Trump Meltdown is Pathetic Distraction from Epstein, Jobs Data, & Texas Redistricting
PDS Published 08/04/2025
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This whole “Sydney Sweeney and American Eagle are Nazis” drama is making the rounds again after the company doubled down and President Trump weighed in over the weekend.
Sweeney was in an American Eagle ad that said she had “good jeans,” right, it’s a double entendre about the jeans she’s wearing and that she's good looking.
But there was a lot of backlash as many felt it was -- at best -- in poor taste to say that a blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman had “good jeans.”
Others took that to the extreme and said it was a clear dog-whistle to Nazis.
On the other side, people felt it was another example of “woke” going too far and really reaching here.
Either way, American Eagle denied the accusations that it was being racist, doubling down and posting:
“Sydney Sweeny Has Great Jeans’ is and always was about jeans. Her Jeans. Her story. We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone.” []
Then we also had the revelation that Sweeney has allegedly been a registered Republican in Florida since 2024. [2]
As you can imagine, this was polarizing, with some saying things like:
“She pretends to stand with women, yet votes against their rights and freedoms. Claiming solidarity while actively working against the very people she claims to support. We truly gave the spotlight to the wrong person.” []
On the other side, some Trump supporters found it concerning that her address was possibly leaked:
“Does nobody else think that Sydney Sweeney’s address being doxxed on her voter registration for being a Republican feel like voter intimidation? Can’t even be proud of your jeans in 2025…” []
But just the fact that she was a registered Republican was enough to essentially turn her into a mascot for the Right and used to bash others:
“If you’re a progressive celebrity, you endlessly lecture the public about your beliefs even if you offend half of your fan base.
If you’re a Republican celebrity who says nothing about politics, the left will hunt you down and hate you for it.” []
That’s not what I’m saying, I just think that’s the point they’re trying to make since a lot of MAGA people have criticized Zegler’s looks. []
But on the left people generally found it ironic that Sweeney was part of a show that told the story of “a lesbian drug addict and her trans gf.” []
And the general sentiment was more joking that of course she is considering her upbringing.
Leading to “I think it's pretty clear from the evidence, Sydney Sweeney is a fairly apolitical person who comes from a Republican family. Which would explain why she is registered Republican but also seems to support some liberal causes and has never weighed in on an election publicly.”
But most of the opinions were largely along the lines of “If you honestly give a fuck about this, get some professional mental help.”
And “Who cares if she’s Republican.” []
You’d think that’s where all this ends, but Trump brought it all back up again yesterday and today.
The first was yesterday when he was asked about her being a republican, to which he said:
“She’s a registered Republican? Oh! Now I love her ad. Is that right? Is Sydney Sweeney? YOu’d be surprised how many people are registered Republicans. I wouldn’t have known but I’m glad you told me that. If Sydeny Sweeney is a registered Republican I think her ad is fantastic.” []
Then this morning he added to it with a massive post on Truth Social:
“Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the “HOTTEST” ad out there. It’s for American Eagle, and the jeans are “flying off the shelves.” Go get ‘em Sydney! On the other side of the ledger, Jaguar did a stupid, and seriously WOKE advertisement, THAT IS A TOTAL DISASTER! The CEO just resigned in disgrace, and the company is in absolute turmoil.”
He went on to compare this to what happened with Bud Light after it featured Dylan Mulvaney, claiming it tanked the company, and then he ended it with:
“Or just look at Woke singer Taylor Swift. Ever since I alerted the world as to what she was by saying on TRUTH that I can’t stand her (HATE!). She was booed out of the Super Bowl and became, NO LONGER HOT. The tide has seriously turned — Being WOKE is for losers, being Republican is what you want to be. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” []
This is actually the second time he posted this. The first time he misspelled her name.
But typo or not, the coverage from the president caused American Eagle stocks to jump 22%.
But it's sad to think that this entire drama means that a post from a president calling someone hot and someone not will now be in the history books.
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This situation in Texas is going off the rails.
Because Texas Republicans just chased their Democrats into Illinois, and now they’re threatening to put them in prison.
With all this starting last month when Donald Trump urged the Texas legislature to redraw its congressional map mid-cycle to give him more seats in the U.S. House.
[Clip, 00:08 - 00:17] Caption: “I think we get five. And I think there could be some other states. We’re gonna get another three or four or five in addition. Texas would be the biggest one.”
Which is a very unusual move, because typically maps are drawn once a decade in time with the census.
But it’s only been four years since Texas last redrew its map, so Governor Greg Abbott called a special session to give Trump what he asked for. [Image]
And last week, they unveiled a proposed map that would likely add five new Republican seats, bumping their majority from 25 to 30 out of 38. [Image]
Then on Saturday a committee approved the map, and the committee’s chairman, Cody Vasut [Pronounce 00:37], didn’t even try to pretend this was anything other than a partisan power grab.
With him telling NBC, “This map was politically based, and that’s totally legal, totally allowed and totally fair. You got states like California and New York and Illinois that have these really large margins between the percentage of seats they have and the percentage of votes that they’re getting, and Texas is underperforming in that. And so it’s totally prudent, totally right, for Texas to be able to respond and improve the political performance of its map.” [Quote]
So the state House was supposed to vote on the map tomorrow, but now that ain’t happening. [Image]
Because yesterday, Democratic state lawmakers filed into buses and booked it out of there, fleeing the state. [B roll, 00:15]
Effectively breaking the quorum Republicans need to pass their map. [Same B roll]
And if you’re like, a what? A quorum is the minimum number of legislators that have to be present for the chamber to vote on anything.
Which, in Texas, means two-thirds of the House.
So only 51 Democrats need to be absent to break the quorum, and according to their own count, they’ve gotten 57 out of there. [Quote, find “57”]
With some reportedly going to Boston and New York, but most went to Chicago, where they held a press conference explaining their decision. [Lead B roll into clip]
With Gene Wu [Woo], leader of the Democrats in the Texas state House, saying: [Lead B roll into clip]
[Clip, 03:03 - 03:26; Clip, 07:32 - 07:43] Caption: “We are not here to have fun. We are not here because this is easy. And we did not make the decision to come here today, we did not make that decision lightly. But we come here today with absolute moral clarity. … Enough of your games. Enough of your lies. Today, the corruption of Donald Trump and Greg Abbott ends.”
Then Representative Trey Martinez Fischer: [Lead B roll into clip]
[Clip, 08:43 - 08:52, 09:02 - 09:05] Caption: “In America, we need to wake up. Republicans are stealing our democracy right before our very eyes. … Not on our watch.”
And Representative Chris Turner: [Lead B roll into clip]
[Clip, 12:24 - 12:38] Caption: “They are engaged in an illegal act of intentional discrimination by tearing apart majority-minority congressional districts across our state, and we are not gonna stand for it.”
And finally Illinois’ Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker: [Lead B roll into clip]
[Clip, 22:53 - 23:09] Caption: “All bets are off when the cult leader and would-be dictator of the United States tells Texas to mid-stream change the game, when they know that they’re gonna lose in 2026. All bets are off.”
But in response to this open act of defiance, Greg Abbott is threatening the nuclear option. [Image]
With him writing, “Democrats hatched a deliberate plan not to show up for work, for the specific purpose of abdicating the duties of their office and thwarting the chamber’s business.” [Quote]
“That amounts to an abandonment or forfeiture of an elected state office.” [Quote same link]
“This truancy ends now. The derelict Democrat House members must return to Texas and be in attendance when the House reconvenes at 3:00 PM on Monday.” [Quote same link]
And then warning that any Democrats who refuse to do so will be removed from membership in the state House. [Quote same link, find “remove”]
And finishing with: “That empowers me to swiftly fill vacancies under Article III, Section 13 of the Texas Constitution.” [Quote same link]
So in other words, he’s gonna kick ‘em out and put new people in their place.
With this coming after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton already threatened to arrest anyone who breaks quorum last month. [Post]
Even offering to assist local, state, and notably federal authorities in “hunting down and compelling the attendance of anyone who abandons their office and their constituents for cheap political theater.” [Same post]
A threat that’s now been reinforced by State Representative Brian Harrison, who demanded of the House speaker:
[Clip, 02:37 - 02:53] Caption: “Immediately move for what’s called a call of the house. The call of the house would authorize law enforcement to immediately be dispatched to arrest, detain and bring back to the capital for the purposes of establishing a quorum these Democrats.”
Now it’s unclear whether and how Texas Republicans could force the Democrats to come back.
Right, there is legal precedent for state authorities compelling lawmakers to return to the chamber, but that’s if they’re actually in the state.
Right, these Democrats have crossed state borders, so technically they should be outside their jurisdiction.
Alternatively, Abbott could seek their extradition from the states where they’re hiding, and in fact, he just threatened to do that, alleging the lawmakers may be committing felony bribery.
And to understand where that allegation comes from, you’ve gotta know that for every day that they’re gone, each absent lawmaker racks up a 500-dollar fine. [Quote, find “500”]
Which would only take two weeks to surpass their 7,200-dollar salary. [Same quote]
So Abbott writes that “many absentee Democrats are soliciting funds to evade the fines they will incur under House rules. Any Democrat who ‘solicits, accepts, or agrees to accept’ such funds to assist in the violation of legislative duties or for purposes of skipping a vote may have violated bribery laws.” [Quote]
But the Democratic leader said they’re using legal ways to defray their costs without going into detail.
Though you had one political scientist telling the Texas Tribune:
“Under Texas ethics laws, it's quite easy for some group to effectively just simply pay these legislators money as a form of compensation that then they can use to pay these fines. Let’s say Mark Cuban wants to pay all these House Democrats $1,000 a day as consultants — they can do that.” [Quote]
Also, the lawmakers can challenge the fines in court, as some have suggested they would, claiming civil rights violations.
Which is why some say the threats from Abbott, Paxton and crew are just scare tactics to pressure the Democrats into folding.
So for now, the lawmakers said they’re committed to staying away for at least two weeks, which would run out the clock on the 30-day special session. [Quote, find “two weeks”]
But after that, Abbott could just keep calling special sessions until the Democrats come back, and it’s unclear how long they’re willing to play this game of chicken.
Right, experts explain that they’d have to last until November, which is when the GOP has to pass its new map before filing opens for next year’s midterms. [Quote, find “opening of filing”]
But even then, experts say Republicans could just hold a second round of primaries if they miss the deadline. [Quote same link, find “second round”]
And if you look at history, the track record for what the Democrats are attempting isn’t very inspiring.
Right, the first quorum break happened in 1870, when lawmakers blocked a bill giving the governor wartime powers, but they were arrested and the bill ultimately passed. [Quote, first line]
Then, the next one came in 1979, when Democrats blocked a bill that would’ve shifted the timing of a primary in favor of one candidate. [Quote same link, find “garage”]
And after a weeks-long game of hide and seek between Texas rangers and lawmakers in Austin, this one actually worked, with Republicans pulling the bill. [Same quote]
But the next time, in 2002, Democrats tried to block another mid-decade redistricting effort, and after a weeks-long standoff some of them finally caved. [Quote same link, find “2002”]
And lastly, in 2021, Democrats tried to block a bill that overhauled election laws, but after six weeks they gave up. [Headline]
So many think it’s likely that this fifth quorum break will follow a familiar pattern.
The initial thrill of defiance wears off, the media stops paying much attention, and the social, legal and financial pressure reaches critical mass.
Because remember, these lawmakers are sacrificing their day jobs, their homes, and time with their families to make this stand.
And if they think they’ll inevitably lose anyway, they might figure it’s better to just get it over with sooner rather than later.
But even if that happens, it doesn’t mean the fight is over.
Because Democratic leaders in New York, California and Illinois have said they’re looking at ways they can redraw their own maps to favor Democrats.
And today, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee called on Democratic state lawmakers from around the country to prepare for carving up their states. [Quote, find “carving”]
Though depending on the state, they might have unique rules that prevent them from jerrymandering as aggressively as the Texas GOP is.
Right, in New York, for example, although the legislature gets to approve its maps, they’re actually drawn by a special commission. [Quote, find “amend”]
And if Democrats there want to amend the state constitution, they’ll have to pass it in two consecutive sessions followed by a referendum, meaning they can’t do it in time for the 2026 midterms.
And of course, it’s not just Texas; blue states are gonna have to battle other red states planning to redraw their maps like Ohio and Florida.
So yeah, we’ve got a long fight ahead of us, and if you believe those on either side, democracy itself is at stake.
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A new law in the UK that requires ID to access adult sites has triggered a massive surge in VPNs, who could have predicted this?
Right, it’s not like we haven’t seen this exact thing play out before in places like Texas.
The law has reportedly led to 5 million age checks a day, although that’s partially because it has a far bigger scope than just “porn sites need to verify ages.”
Essentially any site where it’s remotely possible to see adult content needs to check IDs.
Not to mention that it covers way more than just naked people.
Platforms where things like eating disorders or self-harm could be encountered need to follow the law, meaning essentially all social media -- including YouTube -- are covered.
And despite its name, the Online Safety Act might actually put users at more risk online in many ways.
To put it simply: people just aren’t super comfortable giving up their government IDs in order to access content online.
Especially because that inherently is risky if that info ever gets out.
And as we’ve seen ever since the internet has been a thing, it feels more like “when that info comes out” rather than “if.”
It’s because of concerns like this that a lot of people have turned to VPNs at a staggering rate.
For example, the Swiss company Proton reported that their VPN had an 1800% spike in daily signups after the law went into effect in late July.
And they’re hardly the only ones seeing insane signup rates.
Now, we’re not saying that everyone using a VPN is worried about security. Some just want to see some boobs and that’s all.
Either way though, the turn to VPNs isn’t exactly safe either.
Right, not all are built equally and some are little more than data collection tools of their own for big companies.
Because remember: if the product is free, YOU are the product.
Which is why cyber security experts like Daniel Card warned that:
"Many of these free VPNs are riddled with issues.”
"Some act as traffic brokers for data harvesting firms, others are so poorly built they expose users to attacks."
"While more privacy-conscious users might stick to reputable services... the average person won't.”
"They'll download the first free app with decent reviews, often without realising they're handing over access to their data."
On the other side of the debate we’re starting to see people from groups like Internet Matters -- which claims to be a “children’s safety group” -- warn that they might start looking at VPNs.
In particular they’re “concerned” that it’s too easy to get access to them in order to sidestep laws like the Online Safety Act.
Stepping back though the law is undoubtedly controversial and many feel it’s just another step in the move to make the internet a little less anonymous.
Head to DoorDash use my promo code to get 50% off your first order of $15+, up to $10 off.
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After a long day of work do you engage in the guilty pleasure of watching MineCraft videos on YouTube?
Well, starting mid-August, the platform is going to judge you for it and ask for your age, according to a blogpost made by YouTube.
“Over the next few weeks, we’ll begin to roll out machine learning to a small set of users in the US to estimate their age, so that teens are treated as teens and adults as adults.” []
The program has already been rolled out in the UK due to new legislation that requires it across social media.
And it’s expected to force similar requirements in Australia by December, when a ban on social media for people under the age of 16 will start.
One big question is how does this look in practice?
YouTube’s AI relies on a ton of factors to guess a user’s age to then cater what content they can access.
This can include what type of videos they watch and search for, the general categories of the videos, and how long an account has been active.
So if you stopped getting ID’d when going to the bar and want to feel young again, start looking up Roblox tutorials.
If for whatever reason the AI is actually wrong about a user’s age there are ways to contest it, although at the steep cost of privacy.[]
Right, you’d be able to verify your age with a credit card, government ID, or a selfie.
There are also some questions about how effective the AI actually is.
YouTube tested this feature in Australia back in June and it was “not guaranteed to be effective.”
However, this isn’t an entirely new thing.
Since 2021 YouTube has tried to actively figure out who is and isn’t an adult with things like the Supervised Teen Accounts in order to cater appropriate content for them.
Users are wary of how well this will actually be rolled out, with some saying things like:
“Watch YouTube's AI not even consider channel age when auto-flagging an account. Imagine owning an account/channel for ~18 years, and getting flagged for being under 18 years old because you watch too much Minecraft content.” []
Others feared how well AI will actually work and said:
“how is youtube going to use ai to detect if a user is under 18 when it can hardly detect when a content ID claim is false”
But some of the biggest concerns were just from the fact that YouTube will be collecting even MORE personal data on people:
“In theory, restricting child accounts instead of punishing creators is exactly what we need. However, requiring ID to use YT is exactly the bad solution I feared. Also, it's AI. We all know how poorly that's gonna work.” []
And Asmongold weighed in on thai too, suggesting that there should be a government system that just verified info rather than letting every company collect their own:
Internet real ID is inevitable., especially for social media. Denying this might feel good, but it is a lie and you know it. What isn’t inevitable is private companies having access to our public records. The best solution is gov. Authentication token that only verifies info.” []
Musk went on to say that the Government being involved is the worst idea, but never offered a solution other than that each company asking for ID should be able to have their own records of it.
Asmong also made a follow up video criticizing how these ID laws will just fracture the internet as different jurisdictions have different rules:
“You may not like this, you may not want to hear it but if you take your idealism cap off this is true: we’re going to have Real ID on the internet.” @2:31
“We had this happen with social media, you had Spotify and YHOuTube too and YouTube and Spotify are asking for your IDs now to make sure you’re not underage. They also have an AI checking it too so if you say ‘it’s lit’ or ‘on God’ you automatically get sent to YouTube Kids…” @2:59
He went on to say that private companies shouldn’t be handling this kind of info and referenced the Tea app, which was an app that was for women-only and required photos and IDs to prove it…
And to no one’s surprise all that data was leaked, jeopardizing a ton of people.
So with all that said, does having to give your actual ID push you away from actually using the platform, as some have suggested?
Or do you think that the age of anonymity on the internet is coming to an end?
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Trump wants an “all or nothing” deal in Gaza.
Right, the White House and the Israeli government have been focused on negotiating a two-phased deal for a 60-day cease-fire in Gaza and the release of some hostages.
But now? Trump is reportedly pushing for a comprehensive agreement that ends the war and returns all remaining hostages at once.
With White House envoy Steve Witkoff meeting with hostage families over the weekend and telling them:
“President Trump now believes that everybody ought to come home at once - no piecemeal deals. That doesn't work.”
“...we think that we have to shift this negotiation to all or nothing so that everybody comes home. We think it is going to be successful and we have a plan around it.” []
And with that, it’s been reported that Trump and Netanyahu are working on a new proposal that would involve presenting Hamas with an ultimatum.
And under the terms of the ultimatum, Hamas would have to release the remaining hostages and agree to terms to end the war that include the group’s disarmament.
Otherwise, the Israeli military would continue its campaign.[]
And in fact, we’re also seeing reporting that Israel is preparing to expand its military offensive into additional areas of Gaza.
With one official telling the Financial Times that Netanyahu’s government was “in dialogue” with the Trump administration over the controversial proposal. []
Though, notably, this is as you also have hundreds of retired Israeli security officials, including former heads of intelligence agencies, writing to Trump urging him to pressure Israel to immediately end the war in Gaza, with them writing:
"It is our professional judgement that Hamas no longer poses a strategic threat to Israel." []
But of course, it’s hard to see things changing.
Right, the Israeli government has long maintained that the only way this ends is if Hamas is destroyed or it surrenders and gives up its arms.
And Hamas, of course, has said it is unwilling to do so – at least not without the establishment of a Palestinian state.
And in fact, in response to Witkoff's comments, the group released a statement reaffirming this position.
This as they also released horrifying videos showing an emaciated hostage with his ribs and shoulder blades visible through his skin – just a day after another group, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, released a similar video of another hostage.
The videos of course sparked international outrage and concern for the 20 remaining hostages believed to still be alive.
With thousands also protesting in Tel Aviv calling for a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages (BROLL: 0:18-0:23).
And in response to calls for the hostages to be better cared for, you’ve had Hamas saying yesterday it was prepared to coordinate with the Red Cross to deliver aid to hostages.
But only if Israel permanently opens humanitarian corridors and halts airstrikes during the distribution of aid.
And with that, the group has seemingly tried to use this to draw more attention to the dire situation in Gaza.
Right, one of the hostage videos? It actually said “They eat what we eat and drink what we drink” – also mixing in images of what appeared to be starving babies and children in Gaza. []
Right, and to be clear, children are dying of starvation in Gaza.
And the world's leading body on hunger, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, said last week that the “worst-case scenario of famine” was already unfolding– even as Netanyahu has claimed there’s no starvation in Gaza at all.
But in reality, it’s his government policies that have created this situation – with everything only getting worse since the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation took over most aid distribution in Gaza in May.
Right, the group has only operated four distribution sites, mostly in southern Gaza.
When, earlier in the war, hundreds of aid distribution points were active under the UN-led system. []
Not to mention, of course, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed near these sites trying to access aid – including at least a few dozen just over the weekend.
Now, that said, the UN and other aid groups have still been delivering some aid since the HGD launched its operations, bringing supplies by trucks to both northern and southern Gaza.
But notably, most of the trucks have failed to reach their destinations, with hungry people intercepting them often minutes after they enter the territory, and grabbing whatever aid they can. []
And some have jumped on statistics showing this to argue that Israel was right all along in saying aid was being looted.
But to be clear, Israeli military officials have themselves said that the military has found no evidence that Hamas systematically stole aid from the UN.
And an internal U.S. government analysis similarly found no such evidence.
Right, the situation is just so bad now, and the aid so little, that you have desperate people doing what they can to get any.
But with all that, while Israel and Hamas haven’t really budged on a thing, much of the rest of the world does at least seem to be doing some hard thinking.
Right, last week, France announced that it would formally recognize a Palestinian state in September; the UK said it would too if there was no new cease-fire deal; and several other countries have indicated that they might do the same.
In fact, dozens took part in a conference at the UN, signing a declaration supporting the idea of Palestinian statehood and urging Israel to commit to a two-state solution.
And notably, you had the 22 members of the Arab League among those signing the declaration – which also called for Hamas to lay down its weapons, release all hostages and end its rule of the Gaza Strip.
Right, and having all the world’s Arab nations join in on that? That’s unprecedented.
But of course, it remains to be seen whether all this talk turns into action or actually gets results.
Although, either way, it’ll be hard without the US on board.
Right, the Trump administration, along with the Israeli government, boycotted the conference.
And Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected the idea of a two-state solution.
While members of his government haven’t even tried to hide their view that Israel should just take over Palestinian territory.
I mean, just this weekend, you had the country’s national security minister sparking outrage by praying at the most contested holy site in Israel, which is now home to a mosque.
WIth him saying in a video of the visit shared by his office (BROLL):
“It’s important to convey from this place that we should immediately conquer Gaza, exercise our sovereignty there, and eliminate every last Hamas member.” []
And on top of that, Netanyahu is doing what he can to consolidate power at home.
With his government set to vote today on whether to get rid of the attorney general, who just happens to be the chief prosecutor in Netanyahu’s ongoing corruption case.
But while we wait to see what happens there in terms of Israel’s domestic politics, we’re also continuing to see this shaping politics in the US as well.
Right, a Gallup poll released this week found support for Israel’s military action in Gaza is at a new low – especially among Democrats, among whom support has dropped to just 8 percent.
And we’ve seen politicians shifting with this.
Right, last week, a record number of Senate Democrats supported a resolution to block new arms sales to Israel.
And a new letter to recognize a Palestinian state is gaining signatures in the House.
And in fact, even staunchly pro-Israel Democrats are criticzing the current Israeli government – although still suggesting anti-Zionism would cross the line into antisemitism.
Ritchie Torres, for example, saying:
“All parties, including the U.S. and Israel, have a moral obligation to do everything in our power to ease the hardship and hunger that’s taken hold in the Gaza Strip.”
“I feel it’s possible to be an unapologetic Zionist while at the same time recognizing there’s a crisis in Gaza and recognizing the war has poorly defined strategic objectives.” []
Now with that, you also have the likes of John Fetterman, who has not really walked back his support for Israel in any way.
And ultimately, we’ll have to wait and see if and how this becomes a defining issue for the Democratic party – and how politicians deal with it.
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Trump “wants his own people” telling him how the job market is doing.
This, after he fired the official who told him the job market? It ain’t doing so well.
Right, Friday's jobs report showed that just 73,000 jobs were added last month and that 258,000 fewer jobs were created in May and June than previously estimated.
And in general, those numbers suggest that the economy has weakened during Trump’s time in office.
And that’s in line with other key economic indicators as well, including a slowdown in economic growth during the first half of the year – as well as an increase in inflation that seems to be driven at least in part by tariffs.
But of course, according to Trump, the economy is doing better than ever.
And so, obviously, these numbers? They must be fake.
Which he claimed in his post calling for this official – the director of the Bureau of Labor Statistics – to be fired.
With him also claiming this official – a Biden appointee -- “faked the Jobs Numbers before the Election to try and boost Kamala’s chances of Victory.” []
Saying in a subsequent post:
“In my opinion, today’s Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad.”
“A TOTAL SCAM.” []
And he’s actually continued posting about it up until today, referring again to Friday’s revision, as well as the revision around the time of the last election, and saying:
“Those big adjustments were made to cover up, and level out, the FAKE political numbers that were CONCOCTED in order to make a great Republican Success look less stellar!!!” []
Of course, they weren’t made up, when they were good.
Right, in June, when it was initially reported that the economy added 139,000 jobs, he posted:
“GREAT JOB NUMBERS, STOCK MARKET UP BIG!”
Or even going back to 2016? He often attacked the jobs figures as they showed the unemployment rate going down under Obama only to immediately switch to praising the data once he was in office and job growth continued. []
Now that said, this latest revision is especially big, and you may wonder why.
Well, for one, it may be explained by Trump’s economic policies being especially erratic.
But two, revision to these numbers, they’re extremely normal
In fact, EVERY monthly jobs report includes revisions to the prior two months’ figures.
And those revisions happen as the government receives more responses from businesses to its survey, which is used to provide a more complete picture of employment trends each month. []
And In the past decade, companies have taken longer to respond, which may have contributed to larger monthly revisions.[]
And with all that, you’ve actually had had a group that includes two former BLS commissioners, including one who was appointed by Trump to the position, condemned the firing – saying in a statement:
“This rationale for firing [the commissioner] is without merit and undermines the credibility of federal economic statistics that are a cornerstone of intelligent economic decision-making by businesses, families, and policymakers.” []
You also had a former treasury secretary saying:
“There is no conceivable way that the head of the BLS could have manipulated this number,”
“This is the stuff of democracies giving way to authoritarianism.” []
And to that point, you’ve similarly had outlets including the New York Times reporting on specifically how his tendency to try to suppress facts and push his own alternate version of reality is in line with what authoritarian leaders do all over the world.
Right, when an intelligence report contradicted his views, he fired the analysts.
When experts said his tax and spending bill would increase the deficit, he made up his own math.
And beyond that, he’s wielded the power of the White House to try to remake the global trade system and control media companies, universities, and Congress’ constitutional power of the purse.
Right, and just like all these individual stories, this one is part of a much bigger story about what’s happening here.
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