A Nobel Prize–winning economist has blasted Donald Trump’s attempts to “gaslight” Americans into believing the economy is stronger than it actually is.
Paul Krugman, a former New York Times columnist, wrote on his blog that the president’s effort to convince voters there is no cost-of-living crisis and that food prices aren’t high got off to a “disastrous” start in Pennsylvania on Tuesday.
“A number of news analyses suggested that he would use the occasion to blame Democrats for the economy’s troubles. That was never going to happen,” Krugman wrote.
“Trump did, of course, take many swipes at Joe Biden, as well as attacking immigrants, women, and windmills. But to blame Democrats for the economy’s problems, he would have to admit that the Trump economy has problems,” Krugman added. “And the speech was important because it revealed that he won’t make any such admission and will continue to gaslight the public.”
Trump has routinely brushed aside concerns from tens of millions of Americans regarding the state of the economy, dismissing affordability issues as a “hoax” or a “con job” pushed by Democrats.
He has also buried his head in the sand and rejected multiple polls showing voters blame his policies for their financial struggles, labeling them “fake.”
The delusional president even went so far as to give the economy an “A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus” grade in an interview with Politico published Tuesday.
His speech at the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, was intended to kick off a series of national appearances aimed at proving his economic plans are working in the coming weeks.
Instead, Trump delivered a typically rambling address in which he again called affordability a “hoax” and launched an unhinged attack on immigrants and “s–thole countries.”
Krugman, who received the Nobel Prize in economics in 2008, wrote that Trump cannot solve America’s financial issues because he believes the problems “must lie with you” for not recognizing that the economy is supposedly working.
“I may not be a political strategist, but I don’t think ‘You’re all a bunch of ingrates’ is a winning message. It was, however, really the only message Trump could deliver, given his utter lack of empathy or humility,” Krugman wrote.
“So the ‘affordability tour’ is off to a disastrous start. And it won’t get better, because while Trump insists that the problem is you, it’s actually him. And he isn’t going to change.”
In August, Trump lashed out at Krugman as a “deranged BUM” after the economist criticized the president’s tariff plans and dismissal of accurate jobs data, which revealed dire numbers.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
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