It comes as no surprise that the people around Donald Trump do not know how to do their jobs. Take Dr. Ben Carson. He is a renowned neurosurgeon. He is also black, so Donald Trump appointed him to be the secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Then, there was the former secretary of the Education Department Betsy DeVos. During hearings, she embarrassed herself by not knowing the answers to simple questions. Yet, people thought at least the Counsel to the President was sharper than the rest. Wrong.
MSNBC’s host of the Ali Velshi Live show and co-host of Velshi And Ruhle award-winning journalist Ali Vleshi knew a thing or two about the economy. He was working live with White House correspondent Hans Nichols when an inserted a clip of Counsel to the President Kellyanne Conway appeared. She was on the White House Lawn discussing Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta.
In answer to one of the questions, Conway asserted that Acosta was doing an outstanding job, since the “economy is hot.” The Associated Press showed the clip of her saying:
‘What I said is the president said he met Alex Acosta two-and-a-half years ago and was happy to give him the job at the Department of Labor and we have a big jobs boom and I do know when Alex Acosta was up for Senate confirmation, I believed this particular matter was discussed. And was — he answered questions under oath about it.’
Velshi stopped Conway’s dialogue and people were certain that he was going to come back with one of his fact attacks. Velshi did not disappoint:
‘Hold the phone here for a second, Hans. You and I spent way more time than we should in public on government statistic sites and things like that. A jobs boom has nothing to do with the labor secretary. The Department of Labor measures, evaluates and officiates and that’s just a weird connection to make.’
Nichols could not argue with that. He added that the administration’s defense has been to attack back:
‘Even if it might not make sense for the down the line.’
Maybe, Conway should brush up on her American Government class to find out what the Department of Labor actually does.
‘The United States Department of Labor is part of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States. It is one of several executive cabinet departments under the leadership of the president of the United States. The secretary of labor and other cabinet department leaders collectively form the president’s advisory cabinet. The Department of Labor and its leader, the secretary of labor, are responsible for dealing with issues that arise concerning U.S. federal standards for:
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- wages and hours worked
- occupational safety
- re-employment services
- unemployment insurance benefits
- economic statistics within the labor market
- work-related rights and benefits
- conditions in the workplace’
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In addition, the Labor Department “upholds, endorses, and advances the well-being of United States citizens by implementing regulations and directives that impact wage earners, citizens seeking employment, and retirees.”
The Department of Labor enforces and administers:
‘…over 180 federal laws and thousands of federal regulations, affecting at least 125 million wage earners and 10 million employers. They are also responsible for lobbying for new U.S. federal labor legislations to be passed by Congress.’
The exchange appeared on MSNBC’s Velshi Ruhle show.
