If you heard the news that Donald Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday and responded with a shrug, you probably weren’t alone. How do or die are monthly jobs statistics? And wasn’t this just another instance of Trump attacking someone whose findings he didn’t like?

Not according to experts from across the political aisle, who have raised the alarm that this move represents a different threat, altogether. Even for Donald Trump.

Today, international and political editor Peter Hartcher, on what history tells us happens once a country’s leader starts controlling facts.

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