Trump’s Attack on Government Statistics

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes a wealth of data on employment, wages, inflation and more. Each month, the BLS issues monthly employment figures, which come from a survey of employers. And each year, the nonpartisan number-crunchers at the BLS revise those employment figures, based on more comprehensive data obtained later from state unemployment insurance filings.

The BLS has followed a routine procedure for these revisions for years. But when the agency announced a preliminary estimate for this year’s revision – which would reduce the number of jobs created over the 12 months ending in March by 818,000 – former President Donald Trump claimed it was a “total lie.”

Without evidence, he claimed that “the Harris/Biden administration has been caught fraudulently manipulating job statistics.” He further asserted, “They wanted it to come out after the election, but somehow it got leaked.”

As Managing Editor Lori Robertson writes, the revision wasn’t “leaked.” The BLS had announced on July 5 that the preliminary estimate would be released on Aug. 21, around the time it had done so in past years, including during Trump’s administration.

The 818,000 downward revision would be -0.5% of the March level of employment, a larger revision than the average over the last 10 years of plus or minus 0.1%. But there have been other large revisions in the past. 

The annual revision for 2019, under Trump, was a reduction of 514,000 jobs, or -0.3% of the initial March 2019 employment estimate. The 2009 revision was a reduction of 902,000, or -0.7% of the original March 2009 estimate.

Read the full story, “Trump Calls a Routine Revision of Job Numbers a ‘Lie.’”
 

Reader: Can a felon in Florida still vote?

FactCheck.org Director Eugene Kiely: Convicted felons can vote in Florida, but only after they have completed their sentences and paid off any outstanding legal costs related to their convictions.
 
The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida has a fact sheet on its website called “Voting with a criminal record in Florida” that explains when and how a convicted felon can vote in Florida: “You lose your voting rights only for a felony conviction, and only while serving your sentence. Florida law has included in your sentence paying off ‘legal financial obligations’ (LFOs), which may include ‘fines,’ ‘fees,’ ‘costs,’ and ‘restitution’ related to your felony conviction.”
 
We cited the ACLU of Florida in an article that we did in May when a jury in New York found former President Donald Trump guilty on 34 counts of business fraud – “Q&A on Trump’s Criminal Conviction.” Trump is a resident of Florida, but Florida law doesn’t apply in Trump’s case. 
 
In that story, we wrote:
 
Can Trump vote in the 2024 election?
 
Yes, Trump can vote as long as he is not in jail on Election Day, which this year is on Nov. 5.
 
Trump owns homes in New York and Florida, but in 2019 he changed his primary residence to Florida. However, Florida law does not apply in Trump’s case because he was convicted in New York. Instead, New York law applies.
 
“If you were convicted outside Florida, your voting rights are governed by the state where you were convicted,” as the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida explains on its website.
 
In 2021, New York state enacted a law that “restores the right to vote for a person convicted of a felony upon release from incarceration, regardless of if they are on parole or have a term of post-release supervision,” the New York State Board of Elections says. “If a convicted felon is not incarcerated, they are eligible to register to vote.” 

Trump's sentencing hearing is scheduled for Sept. 18. However, New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan must first rule on Trump's motion to overturn the conviction based on a U.S. Supreme Court's presidential immunity ruling last month. Merchan's ruling is expected Sept. 16. The judge also needs to rule on another Trump motion to postpone the sentencing date until after the election.

Wrapping Up

Here's what else we've got for you this week:

• "Trump TV Ad Falsely Claims Harris Has ‘Unleashed’ IRS on Tipped Workers": The Internal Revenue Service did not implement a new voluntary program that certain employers could have used to report tips earned by their workers. But the proposal is partly the basis for a Trump campaign TV ad that falsely claims Vice President Kamala Harris “weaponized” and “literally unleashed” the IRS on tipped workers.
• "Trump’s False Claim That Harris Met with Putin": In February 2022, Vice President Kamala Harris attended an annual security conference in Germany to talk with European leaders about Russian aggression toward Ukraine and other world topics. She didn’t go to Russia, and there is no evidence she met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, contrary to an unsupported claim made by former President Donald Trump.
• "Trump Revives — and Further Decreases — His Absurdly Low Estimate of Sea Level Rise": On the campaign trail this summer, former President Donald Trump has routinely cast doubt on climate change by falsely claiming that the oceans will rise just “one-eighth of an inch over the next 400 years.” He’s previously used the same measurement over a period of 250 years. In fact, the current rate of sea level rise is already a little more than one-eighth of an inch each year. 
• "Social Media Posts Twist Harris Campaign’s ‘Joyful’ Message": Vice President Kamala Harris has referred to participants in the Democratic presidential campaign as “joyful warriors,” and “joy” has been a theme at the party’s rallies and convention. Instagram posts, however, have falsely claimed the phrase “strength through joy,” which echoes a Nazi-era program, has become a Harris campaign slogan.

• "Cómo respondió Walz a los disturbios en Minnesota tras la muerte de George Floyd": Durante años, el gobernador de Minnesota, Tim Walz, ha sido criticado por algunos por su respuesta a los disturbios en su estado después de que George Floyd fuera asesinado por un oficial de policía de Minneapolis en mayo de 2020. Esas críticas se repitieron este mes cuando la vicepresidenta Kamala Harris eligió a Walz como su compañero en la fórmula presidencial demócrata de 2024. Aquí ofrecemos una breve cronología de los acontecimientos. 
• "Las afirmaciones falsas y engañosas de Trump sobre el historial de Harris respecto al crimen": En un acto de campaña en Atlanta y otros lugares, el expresidente Donald Trump ha intentado pintar a la vicepresidenta Kamala Harris, exfiscal general de California y fiscal de distrito de San Francisco, como una persona blanda frente al crimen. Varias de las afirmaciones de Trump van más allá de los hechos o distorsionan las posturas de Harris.
• "Última noche de la Convención Nacional Demócrata": En el discurso de aceptación de la vicepresidenta Kamala Harris, encontramos afirmaciones familiares sobre impuestos, aborto, control de la natalidad, Seguridad Social y Medicare. 
• "Tercera noche de la Convención Demócrata": El candidato a vicepresidente y otros abordaron temas familiares como el aborto, la Seguridad Social y Medicare, y los impuestos. 
• "Segundo día de la Convención Nacional Demócrata": Algunos oradores sesgaron los hechos sobre los planes de Trump para otro mandato. 
• "Noche inaugural de la Convención Nacional Demócrata": Verificamos los hechos del discurso de Biden, que incluyó muchas afirmaciones que hemos escuchado antes, así com los comentarios de otros oradores.