My Hero: Paul Krugman

Paul Krugman says democracy and Trump can’t coexist: ‘Either he or the republic will be gone soon’

by Brad Reed
31 Jan 2017 at 10:23 ET

Raw Story!

New York Times columnist and Pulitzer Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman believes there are only two ways Donald Trump’s presidency can end: Either with his resignation, or the death of democracy.

In a tweet storm posted on Tuesday morning that analyzed the events of the past few days — such as the anti-immigration executive order that sparked chaos last weekend and the president’s continued assault on media outlets who don’t give him positive coverage — Krugman said that there was simply no way that a president with Trump’s authoritarian tendencies can coexist with our constitutional republic.

In other words, writes Krugman, either Trump goes or our democracy does.

“Given the rate at which things are coming to a head, “President Trump” — the sort-of legitimate head of a republic — won’t last long,” Krugman writes. “Either he or the republic, in any meaningful sense, will be gone quite soon. I have a hard time seeing one year, let alone four.”

What this means, Krugman says, is that absolutely no one should collaborate with Trump — even if they happen to agree with him on a particular issue. The threat to democracy that Trump represents, according to Krugman, is too great to risk giving him legitimacy.
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“Anyone considering working for or with this White House — Senators, officials, businessmen — shouldn’t,” he concludes. “Either you’re going to go down with a disgraced president, or you’re going to be complicit in the death of democracy. Just say no.”

The whole tweet storm follows below.

Either he or the republic, in any meaningful sense, will be gone quite soon. I have a hard time seeing one year, let alone four 2/

— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) January 31, 2017