Economist here. As much as it pains me to agree with Krugman about anything, he's basically right here. Are there *conceptual* issues with the reported statistics (GDP, CPI, etc.)? Sure. Are there possible biases from the way data is collected (e.g., the recent switch from in-person to phone surveys for CPI)? Yep. Do politicians misuse statistics when they advocate for their policies? Boy howdy, they sure do! But is the USG outright faking data the way that, e.g., China has famously done with GDP? I don't think so, and I don't know of any credible economist who makes that claim.

It's not as if the numbers paint a rosy picture of a successful economy that Biden and Trump can seriously claim to be proud of. The situation is so abysmal by the government's own account that we don't need conspiracy theories about faked data to know there's something rotten in Denmark (or, in this case, DC)!