On September 5, 2025, the political world was rocked by revelations concerning E.J. Antoni, President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Multiple major news outlets, including CNN, The Advocate, and The Washington Post, reported that Antoni, a 37-year-old economist from the Heritage Foundation, had a lengthy history of posting homophobic, misogynist, and conspiratorial content on social media. The controversy has ignited a fierce debate in Washington as Antoni awaits a Senate confirmation hearing that could determine the future leadership of one of the nation’s most important statistical agencies.
Antoni’s nomination followed Trump’s abrupt firing of BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer on August 1, 2025, after a disappointing jobs report. Trump alleged, without providing evidence, that the jobs numbers had been "manipulated" and insisted on installing new leadership at the agency. In a statement on X (formerly Twitter), Trump praised Antoni, saying, "I am pleased to announce that I am nominating Highly Respected Economist, Dr. E.J. Antoni, as the next Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics." The White House echoed this endorsement, with spokesperson Taylor Rogers stating, "Dr. Antoni has the experience and credentials needed to restore solution-oriented leadership at the BLS — solutions that will prioritize increasing survey response rates and modernizing data collection methods to improve the BLS’s accuracy."
But as soon as Antoni’s name was announced, scrutiny of his online history began in earnest. According to CNN and The Advocate, Antoni operated several anonymous social media accounts between 2015 and 2020, using aliases but maintaining biographical details that matched his own. The accounts posted a barrage of derogatory remarks, including sexually degrading attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris, homophobic taunts directed at CNN anchors Don Lemon and Anderson Cooper, and crude insults targeting Democratic leaders such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib.
One particularly inflammatory post came in March 2020, when Antoni wrote, "There is only one sexual orientation — everything else is a disorientation." This and similar remarks denying the existence of LGBTQ+ identities have drawn sharp rebuke from civil rights advocates. In 2019, after Rep. Ilhan Omar tweeted in support of LGBTQIA+ rights, Antoni responded with a false and offensive conspiracy theory, writing, "Does the I stand for incest? With your brother?"
Antoni’s attacks were not limited to sexuality or gender. He posted a sexually charged image of Kamala Harris with the caption, "You can’t run a race on your knees," after Harris ended her 2020 presidential campaign. He referred to Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, as "Miss Piggy," and called Rep. Rashida Tlaib a "catfish," writing, "No one wants to have sex with a catfish." Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was labeled a "space cadet" and "whack job."
His posts also delved into conspiracy theories and personal attacks, accusing economist Paul Krugman, President Joe Biden, and former FBI Director James Comey of being pedophiles, and calling abortion "child sacrifice." In 2018, following the death of Senator John McCain, Antoni tweeted, "I like a senator who doesn’t die," echoing Trump’s infamous jab at McCain’s military service. Antoni’s social media history even included a meme likening Twitter’s moderation policies to Nazi censorship, using disturbing imagery of a bird with a Hitler mustache and armband, accompanied by the comment, "I believe censorship is bad, 1984-level bad," as reported by CNN.
Antoni’s views extended beyond social media. According to The Washington Post, he told Heritage Foundation interns that women are more likely to have average intelligence, while men are more likely to be geniuses or have low IQs. He described feminism as "that belief by which women are liberated from false slavery to men in order to become true slaves to corporations."
Following the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, Antoni was identified in social media videos as a bystander in the crowd. Both CNN and NBC confirmed there was no evidence he entered the Capitol building. White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers emphasized, "These pictures show EJ Antoni, a bystander to the events of January 6th, observing and then leaving the Capitol area. EJ was in town for meetings, and it is wrong and defamatory to suggest EJ engaged in anything inappropriate or illegal."
Antoni stopped using his Twitter account after Trump was banned from the platform in January 2021 and later migrated to Parler, a social media site that has since shut down. Wired was the first to uncover Antoni’s controversial posts, which also included conspiracy theories about COVID-19 and the 2020 election. He has also appeared on Fox Business, blaming the central bank for interfering in the presidential election by adjusting interest rates.
Antoni’s professional background includes earning a Ph.D. in economics from Northern Illinois University in 2020, working at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, and later joining the Heritage Foundation. The Heritage Foundation, known for its conservative policy advocacy, is the architect of Project 2025, a blueprint for Trump’s second term that has already influenced several administration decisions, including efforts to downsize the federal government.
Antoni’s nomination has drawn fierce opposition from Democratic lawmakers. Senator Patty Murray of Washington, a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, issued a blistering statement, saying, "E.J. Antoni is seriously unwell—he is apparently a disturbed, hateful, conspiracy-driven man who does not belong in government. Not only is he an unqualified, partisan hack but apparently he has been a prolific promoter of vile, hate-filled screeds against women, sexual abuse survivors, and anyone who disagrees with Donald Trump. E.J. Antoni should withdraw his nomination immediately, and this kind of revolting behavior should be a red line for all Senators." Murray warned, "Any Senator who considers voting to confirm him should understand: a vote for Antoni is not only a vote against America’s economic stability and the credibility of our jobs data, but the implicit endorsement of hateful, disgusting, and backward ideas that belong in the garbage heap of history."
Republican leaders have so far remained largely silent on the controversy, though the upcoming Senate confirmation process is expected to test the resolve of several moderate Republicans, including Senator Lisa Murkowski, who sits on the HELP Committee. Antoni’s lack of prior government experience and his deeply polarizing online record are likely to make his confirmation anything but routine.
As scrutiny intensifies, the fate of Antoni’s nomination hangs in the balance. The Senate’s decision will not only determine who leads the BLS, but may also signal how much weight lawmakers are willing to give to past online behavior and rhetoric in evaluating candidates for high public office.
The unfolding controversy over E.J. Antoni’s nomination has become a flashpoint in the ongoing struggle over the tone, values, and direction of public service in America.
