He wasn't fudging anything, his phrasing was

> ~18% of their working age people *do not have jobs*

Which is a correct interpretation of participation rate. His theory on the causes may be off, but his numbers weren't

His theory on the cause is wrong, and using the wrong number is dishonest here. I agree he more or less correctly cited labor force participation rate (still basically the best in the world) but badly misrepresented what that number is such that he should be apologizing and not doubling down. Dishonest.