Controversial Project 2025 architect E.J. Antoni has spoken out after his nomination as new head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics was withdrawn following an exposé of his offensive social media posts.
Donald Trump announced in August that he had chosen the 37-year-old Heritage Foundation economist to replace former BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer.
However, on Tuesday, the White House filed paperwork to the Senate to withdraw Antoni’s nomination after criticism of the appointment across the political spectrum, according to Politico.
Antoni confirmed he would not be joining the BLS in a lengthy X post on Wednesday, which hinted at “elected officials who lack the courage to support” his agenda. Nor did he address the reported backlash to his past as an online troll.
“Americans voted to reform the failed status quo of the D.C. Swamp, demanding government reform, transparency and efficiency,” the Trump loyalist wrote.
“Those changes are not possible without accurate economic data consistently delivered in a timely manner-something for which I have advocated for years, well before President Trump asked me to lead BLS.”
While Antoni thanked Trump, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and senators who had endorsed him, he fired a shot at “other elected officials who lack the courage to support this commonsense agenda of real change in Washington.”
— E.J. Antoni, Ph.D. (@RealEJAntoni) October 2, 2025
Antoni noted he would remain working at right-wing think tank the Heritage Foundation and would continue to “advocate for the reforms the BLS so desperately needs.”
The Daily Beast has contacted Antoni’s office for comment.
The economist, also a co-author of Project 2025, was parachuted into his nomination after the president claimed the agency had “rigged” disappointing job report figures in July.
Before preparing to take the job, Antoni told Fox Business in August that he wanted to implement less frequent reports, noting, “the BLS should suspend issuing the monthly job reports but keep publishing the more accurate, though less timely, quarterly data.”
Antoni’s past as on online troll was uncovered just weeks after his nomination, including posts insulting figures including Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
His offensive posts stretched back a decade using different user names and on platforms including X and right-wing social network Parler, according to a CNN report last month.
After Harris dropped out of the running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, Antoni tweeted, “You can’t run a race on your knees.”
His problematic posts also included a false conspiracy theory about Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar being involved an incestuous relationship with her brother. and made an offensive comment about late Republican Senator John McCain.
The economist also took part in a podcast interview where a picture of the German World War II battleship Bismarck, which was Adolf Hitler’s favorite, was visible in the background
“The Bismarck, yep, in all his glory,” Antoni said on TFTC, a Bitcoin podcast, in 2023.
While the White House did not answer the Daily Beast’s request to explain why it terminated Antoni’s nomination, a statement confirmed it would announce a new nominee for the BLS role shortly.
“Dr EJ Antoni is a brilliant economist and an American patriot that will continue to do good work on behalf of our great country,” a White House official told CNN. “President Trump is committed to fixing the longstanding failures at the BLS that have undermined the public’s trust in critical economic data.”
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