YOU CAN’T FIRE THE FACTS
YOU CAN’T FIRE THE FACTS
by: Paul Hambleton
President Trump’s firing of Dr. Erika McEntarfer—an accomplished, bipartisan-confirmed economist—for releasing unfavorable job numbers is more than political overreach. It’s an attempt to erase reality. But here’s the thing about truth: you can’t fire it, silence it, or make it disappear. Facts have gravity. They always come back down.
Our reality-denying president removed McEntarfer for overseeing the release of jobs data that he didn’t like. Rather than investigate the numbers or offer a solution, he accused her—without evidence—of manipulating the data for political gain. Then he fired her. It was a textbook case of killing the messenger.
His firing of McEntarfer is another demonstration that in his worldview loyalty to him matters much more than telling the truth. No matter how hard he tries to bury the facts, they persist. Data exists whether he likes it or not.
McEntarfer’s dismissal won’t change hiring numbers, economic trends, or the lived reality of working Americans. Truth doesn’t vanish because it’s inconvenient. It accumulates. It weighs on the conscience and wellbeing of our country.
In ancient times, kings executed messengers who brought bad news. That didn’t reverse a lost battle—it only delayed reckoning. Trump dismissed McEntarfer, but he didn’t erase the data. He didn’t remake the economy. He didn’t change reality.
We all should be outraged by the president’s denials of facts and punishments of truth tellers, not just because he fired McEntarfer, but because he violated the principle that facts must be faced and dealt with responsibly for the good of our country and us all. No matter who sits in power, the truth will out—and when it does, it lands hard.
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