Without evidence, Trump called the data "rigged" and implied that BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer manipulated the numbers "for political purposes."

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett on Sunday defended Donald Trump’s decision to fire Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, claiming the president “wants his own people there.

Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House National Economic Council, on Sunday defended President Trump’s decision to fire the top labor official in charge of compiling statistics on employment and insisted that the administration was not shooting the messenger over weakness in the labor market.