On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released a jobs report that upended the narrative pundits, journalists, government officials, and the White House had been repeating for months: The economy is doing just fine.

To hear President Donald Trump and his allies tell it, the ex-chief of the government agency that produces the critical U.S. employment report deserved to be fired due to political bias. Former leaders of the Bureau of Labor Statistics — the agency in the middle of a political firestorm — scoff at the idea.

President Trump promoted his own version of reality in the Oval Office after firing the head of the agency that collects employment statistics last week.