Donald Trump’s presidency has been marked by a disregard for facts and data that don’t support his agenda. In his first term, he was known to alter hurricane forecasts with a black Sharpie to make Alabama look affected by the storm, despite it not being the case. Now, as he enters his second term, he’s taking this approach to reality itself.
No longer held back by responsible advisers or members of Congress, Trump has begun a war on facts and data that don’t serve him. He’s ignoring economic statistics that make him look bad and crime data that doesn’t support his demand for power. This has serious consequences, affecting doctors trying to keep people healthy, police seeking to keep them safe, and business leaders making tough decisions.
Trump’s impulse to bend reality is often surreal and driven by his need to be right all the time. Statistics are supposed to be neutral, but Trump’s approach is anything but. He’s using his power to manipulate data, whether it’s crime numbers, unemployment rates, or public health statistics.
The damage goes beyond just politics; it affects our understanding of economic trends, population growth, and public health. The U.S. government risks becoming as believable as a press secretary praising Trump’s greatness. Without trust in federal statistics, we can’t make informed decisions about our economy, healthcare, or education system.
States, industries, and the private sector can provide alternative snapshots of reality, including decentralized data from hospitals, insurers, research institutions, and major technology firms. Nonprofits and media organizations can assemble and share this information to ensure a distributed model of truth.
For democracy to function, Americans must demand vigilance in data collection and analysis. Without it, manipulated numbers become the official record, and lies calcify into reality. Trump’s Sharpie may lose its power if we push back against his manipulation of statistics.
Source: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-statistics-crime-economy-health-rcna226069