Donald Trump’s new pick to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics once proudly showed off a painting of the German World War II battleship Bismarck “in all his glory” during a podcast.
EJ Antoni, tapped to replace former BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, whom the president fired after claiming the agency “rigged” disappointing jobs report figures, has repeatedly appeared in front of the massive portrait of Adolf Hitler’s favorite battleship during media interviews.
In an October 2023 appearance on TFTC, a Bitcoin podcast hosted by Marty Bent, Antoni was immediately asked about the painting of the Bismarck, the largest warship in the world at the time that served as the flagship of Nazi Germany’s Kriegsmarine.
“The Bismarck, yep, in all his glory,” Antoni said. “It is at the bottom of the sea, along with the Hood, that it sank just days before.”
The Hood is the British naval ship HMS Hood, which the Bismarck sank in May 1941, killing all but three of its 1,418 crew. The Bismarck itself was sunk just days later in a battle with the British air and naval fleet around 300 miles off the coast of France.
Antoni also referred to the Bismarck as “his,” when ships are typically considered female and referred to as “she” or “her.” Another person who considered the Bismarck male was Ernst Lindemann, the sole commander of the battleship, which was itself named after Germany’s 19th-century “Iron Chancellor,” Otto von Bismarck.
The White House defended Antoni’s ownership of a huge painting of the Bismarck as he is a “history buff” and has an “appreciation for the significance of maritime history.”
“His office is full of a variety of artifacts and artwork featuring US battleships and other famous vessels, including the USS New Jersey and the USS Misouri [sic], that have been used throughout major wars,” a spokesperson told the Daily Beast.
In July 2024, Antoni also recommended far-right commentator Candace Owens read Patrick J. Buchanan’s 2008 book Churchill, Hitler, and “The Unnecessary War”: How Britain Lost Its Empire and the West Lost the World, which is highly critical of Britain’s involvement in both world wars.
“Among other valuable historical information, it details how British statesmen gloated about starving German civilians to death,” Antoni posted on X.
Elsewhere, it has emerged that Antoni was also spotted among the crowd outside the Capitol during the Jan. 6, attack in 2021. The White House said he was a “bystander” who wandered over after seeing the riot on TV. Footage shows Antoni leaving the area as the mob entered, and he did not breach the building.
Antoni and the White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment.
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