Going into Labor

There was a barrage of so many sickening tweets yesterday afternoon, as the Trump team went into hyper-overdrive as they see his approval at 33%, scandal after scandal pummeling them, and Trump's dementia worsening.  (It was ludicrous and disturbing enough when he said the other day -- again -- that he was cutting some drug prices by 400%...which is mathematically impossible, unless he means the drug companies will be paying customers, but just yesterday he now said that he was cutting come drug prices by 3,000%!!!  And added "You do the math.")

I had no idea what I would write about today. But then I saw this tweet from the Department of Labor, and I couldn't let it pass.  I can't say it's more of a lie than other of the Trump administration tweets -- though it may be.  And I can't say it's more empty than other of their tweets yesterday.  But I do say it symbolizes the problem with Trump and those enabling him -- because it's willing to opening be so blatantly, gallingly racist and unconcerned that it will get criticized by their boss and by the MAGOPs in Congress.

First things first:  there's no data that supports this chart. This is just a squiggly line on a graph, much like when Trump used a Sharpie on an official government weather map to show where he wanted the path of a hurricane to be.  But the Department of Labor, like all officials in MAGOP have not earned the credibility to rely on their word.

But beyond that, and far more importantly, this is just gallingly, openly racist. And helps explain why Trump's approval is 33%. Because two-thirds of the American public isn't buying what they're selling.  The vast, massive majority of Americans, I am sure, understand that if you're a legally naturalized citizen of the United States...then you are a citizen of the United States.  No "legally" necessary to add as an adjective.  You...are...a...citizen...of...the...United...States.  It's a very basic concept.  And a very Constitutional one, as well.

Yet there is the Department of Labor trying to divide Americans, and singling out only how "American-born" workers are doing.  While also providing a squiggly chart on employment for Americans who are "Native-born" only.

I'm not sure how much more openly racist you can get? 

(Well, okay, I know you can get more openly racist.  Trump and "JD Vance" and much of the white supremacist base show it regularly.  But for a cabinet department to show it, they've set a very notable bar.)

Shocking, I know, to learn that among Latino voters, who were an important base for Trump and MAGOPs in 2024, only approve of him now with 39%.  And among Hispanics who voted ​for Trump, that number has dropped by 12 points.

By the way, there are 38 million American citizens who were not born in the United States.  That's 11 percent of the population.  A full 38 million Americans who Trump's Department of Labor are dismissing, demeaning, leaving out of their labor statistics.  As if their employment -- or lack of employment doesn't count.

And we do know that labor statistics under Trump have been disastrous.  Jobs statistics for the the last two months (two months, since the Trump administration had refused to release the numbers) showed that 41,000 jobs where lost -- for all Americans, wherever they were born.  The unemployment number rose to 4.6%, the highest in four years.  In August, in fact, there was a job loss of 4,000.  This comes after 48 consecutive months of job gains during the Biden Administration.

All of which puts the Labor Department's "claim" that the Biden Administration "CRUSHED" the American Dream in perspective.  But their standard, that means Trump has vaporized the American Dream.  For all Americans.  ALL.

What the Department of Labor should be required to do is explain why it left out legal, naturalized American citizens from its chart? Though maybe the reason is simple, they were just going with "pure racist"?

It's worth adding that if the Department of Labor is only concerned with employment of  American citizens who were born in the United States, that leaves out Melania Trump, Elon Musk, Trump's Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, Senior Advisor to Trump Massad Boulos, Trump's first wife Ivana, Trump's mother Mary, Trump's grandfather Friedrich Drumpf, Trump's first Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, Sen. Ted Cruz (MAGOP-TX), Sen. Bernie Moreno (MAGOP-TX), Rep. Dan Crenshaw (MAGOP-TX), Rep. Juan Ciscomani (MAGOP-AZ), Rep. Carlos Gimenez (MAGOP-FL), Young Kim (MAGOP-CA) and many, many, many, many more -- including the parents of Usha Vance, wife of "JD".

And it's fine that they weren't born in the United States.  Just not to Trump's Department of Labor and his Secretary of Labor.

Fun Fact: the Secretary of Labor is Lori Chavez-DeRemer.  I can't find where her parents were born, though her father Richard is regularly referred to as "Mexican American".  And on Ms. Chavez-DeRemer's Facebook page, she writes that "My grandmother’s family immigrated here from Mexico so that their children could live a better life and achieve their American dream."  And has elsewhere spoken of her maternal great-grandmother immigrating from Mexico.  That would suggest that at least one of her parents wasn't born in the United States, if not both -- which means that their job status doesn't count to Trump and to Ms. Chavez-DeRemer's Department of Labor.

Nor does it seem to count to the elected MAGOPs in Congress, since they've been silent about the Department of Labor's deeply racist social media post.  Approving and enabling it in their silence.

Because, in the end, this isn't about Trump, we know who he is.  This about the elected MAGOPs in Congress -- and the members of his cabinet -- who enable and support him.

And help him plummet to a 33% approval.  

Showing that two-thirds of the American public isn't buying what they're selling.