Liberal columnist Paul Krugman has become an unlikely — albeit qualified — defender of Donald Trump.
Trump, the New York Times columnist wrote Monday, is an unusual GOP presidential candidate in that he’s departing from the party’s typical stance on taxes and healthcare. Unlike his fellow Republican contenders, Trump has shown a willingness to raise taxes on the wealthy and has at times appeared favorable to universal healthcare.
Trump is being attacked for those stances by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who’s trying to claw his way back to the top of the heap. But Trump doesn’t yet appear to be suffering in public opinion — and that proves GOP voters don’t share the party establishment’s “economic delusions,” Krugman argues.
“Mr. Trump, who is self-financing, didn’t need to genuflect to the big money, and it turns out that the base doesn’t mind his heresies,” Krugman wrote. “This is a real revelation, which may have a lasting impact on our politics.”
Trump has surprised many election-watchers by sustaining his lead among 15 or so Republican contenders, even as he has made comments about immigrants and women that some have found offensive. The most recent polls show Trump with a double-digit lead over Ben Carson, who’s closely followed by Bush.
Krugman was careful to clarify that he doesn’t support many of Trump’s policies, sharply criticizing the billionaire for supporting the deportation of undocumented immigrants. In his view, that’s what Bush should criticize about Trump rather then his more moderate stance on tax policy.
“Mr. Bush’s hapless attempt at a takedown suggests that his political team still doesn’t get it, and thinks that pointing out The Donald’s heresies will be enough to doom his campaign,” Krugman wrote.
The recent data on unemployment proves that GOP policies don’t work, Krugman argued. While Republicans claimed that allowing some of the Bush tax breaks on the wealthy to expire and passing the Affordable Care Act would kill jobs, the unemployment rate has fallen from 7.8 percent when Obama took office to 5.1 percent now.
“The economy has nonetheless done far better than should have been possible if conservative orthodoxy had any truth to it,” Krugman wrote. “And now Mr. Trump is being accused of heresy for not accepting that failed orthodoxy?”
