News Nation's Chief Washington Anchor Leland Vittert joined The Ryan Gorman Show to break down President Trump's controversial decision to fire the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) following disappointing July job numbers and downward revisions.
"When you have good numbers, you talk about the numbers. When you have bad numbers, you say the numbers don't matter," Vittert said, pointing to the political strategy behind the move. He noted that while Trump may be drawing heat for axing a federal official, the public’s real concern lies elsewhere. "If people don't feel like there's enough money left over to buy groceries, it doesn't matter what the numbers are."
Ryan Gorman highlighted how post-tariff economic uncertainty is hampering business confidence. Since April’s trade shifts, job growth has stagnated, and Vittert warned that early warning signs are showing up in tourism hot spots. "Las Vegas and Florida are the canaries in the coal mine," he said, noting sharp drops in hotel and restaurant activity.
Despite the uproar over the BLS firing, Vittert emphasized that most Americans likely don’t know or care who runs the bureau. Still, he cautioned against what he sees as a dangerous precedent: "Every president sort of agrees that the numbers are the numbers. And I'm not gonna fire career folks because I don't like what they tell me."
The conversation broadened into a deeper concern over institutional erosion. Vittert reflected on Trump’s frustration with a system that, in his view, punished him when he played by the rules and led him to adopt a more confrontational approach in his second term. "Nobody gives him credit for his successes... so he says, why bother?"
When asked about potential legal consequences for Obama-era officials tied to the 2016 Russia probe, Vittert urged caution: "Trying to make what they did illegal is probably a pretty big step." He warned of a cycle of political vengeance that could spiral dangerously out of control.
To hear more of Leland Vittert’s take on the Trump administration, economic data distrust, and the reemerging Russia controversy, catch the full interview on The Ryan Gorman Show.