If you think New York Times economist Paul Krugman’s op-eds are bad, his Twitter account is even worse. It’s a collection of babble, not the commentary of a Nobel laureate.
Krugman is no stranger to saying indefensible or ridiculous things, least of all in the year 2020. He’s already written so many that a Top 10 list can’t wait for the year to end. In February, Krugman wrote an op-ed actually headlined "Bernie Sanders Isn't a Socialist,” even though he undercut himself in his own piece by questioning: “So why does Sanders call himself a socialist?” More recently, Krugman wrote an op-ed suggesting that President Donald Trump’s administration wants thousands of Americans to “die for the Dow.”
Krugman had also been reduced to using zombie metaphors to illustrate his disdain for certain “centrist” Democratic presidential candidates earlier this year. Krugman wrote Feb. 17 that “sometimes zombie ideas also manage to eat centrists’ brains,” in an op-ed headlined “Have Zombies Eaten Bloomberg’s and Buttigieg’s Brains?”
Ever since the 2016 election outcome, Krugman has made it a point to fire off wild predictions about what would happen under a Trump presidency. When markets began to plunge after Trump’s march towards an astounding victory, Krugman initially stated before recanting later that “[i]t really does now look like President Donald J. Trump, and markets are plunging. When might we expect them to recover?” Krugman further suggested that “If the question is when markets will recover, a first-pass answer is never." [Emphasis added.]
With this sort of leftist insanity in Krugman’s writing, it should come as no surprise for viewers to find gaffes, incendiary comments, faulty economic rationales, and bouts of cringe humor on Krugman’s Twitter account.
Below is a Top Ten list of Krugman’s worst tweets of 2020.
1. Krugman tweeted that “someone compromised” his IP address to download “child pornography.”
In January, Krugman erupted on Twitter with arguably his most disturbing tweet so far in 2020. Krugman blurted: “Well, I’m on the phone with my computer security service, and as I understand it someone compromised my IP address and is using it to download child pornography.” As if his initial tweet wasn’t cringe enough, Krugman proceeded in another tweet to invoke his newspaper to come to his defense: “The Times is now on the case.” [Emphasis added.]
Krugman said he deleted the original comment, but buried himself again by revealing he may have fallen for a scam: “Deleted original tweet. Times thinks it may have been a scam. Anyway, will have more security in future.”
Did Krugman forget that Twitter is forever?
(Source: Wayback Machine)
2. Krugman speculated that Trump could have coerced the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to produce fraudulent data in the May jobs report.
When data doesn’t match up to Krugman’s failed predictions, he hedges. But he’s even willing to dip into conspiracy theories.
When the BLS released the May jobs report showing that employment increased by 2.5 million, Krugman didn’t know what to do with the numbers. Instead, he floated a conspiracy theory in a June 5 tweet that would earn him a lot of backlash.
He would later recant on this conspiracy theory. But in his recant, he justified himself on these grounds: “I was just covering myself, because so many weird things have happened lately.” [Emphasis added.]
He can’t seem to just take the “L” and move on.
3. Krugman invoked race to spit Twitter bile at a Washington Post columnist.
Krugman, in a fringe moment of Twitter fury, lashed out at Washington Post columnist Meghan McArdle for daring to publish an op-ed headlined: “We can’t bear the truth of covid-19, so we’ve just decided to forget.”
Krugman tweeted out the article with the cringe caption: “What do you mean ‘we’, white woman,” in an apparent reference to an old Lone Ranger joke. Krugman continued: “Seriously, ‘America’ hasn't given up on fighting Covid-19; Cuomo's NY, Murphy's NJ, Whitmer's MI haven't given up. It's *Republicans* who have given up.” [Emphasis added.]
4. Krugman used news about cruise lines suspending trips out of U.S. ports to take a swipe at American exceptionalism.
CNBC reported in a tweet June 19 that cruise lines will “voluntarily suspend all trips out of U.S. ports until Sept. 15, trade group says.” Krugman decided to use the news to post a truly gross tweet emphasizing his anti-American bent: “Will other countries start calling it the ‘American virus’? After all, at this point we're the hotspot that needs to be quarantined. American exceptionalism!” [Emphasis added.]
5. Krugman babbled the crazy theory that there’s a “close association between right-wing activism and medical quackery.”
Krugman retweeted lefty CNN Analyst Keith Boykin’s one-sided quip over Assistant to the President and economist Peter Navarro and Dr. Anthony Fauci’s reported dispute concerning the efficacy of the hydroxychloroquine drug on the coronavirus. Krugman then used the story to spew nonsensical hyperbole attacking conservatives.
He babbled, “May be relevant to note that there is a long, close association between right-wing activism and medical quackery.” [Emphasis added.]
We get it Paul, you hate conservatives. But making weird correlations to prove your biased arbitrary theses just make you look childish.
6. Krugman got TRIGGERED over “privileged white man” University of Chicago economist criticizing the Black Lives Matter movement for calling to defund the police.
Step outside the liberal academia hive-mind, and you will be targeted for cancelling. University of Chicago Bruce Allen and Barbara Ritzenthaler Professor in Economics Harald Uhlig dared to criticize the Black Lives Matter movement on Twitter June 8, saying in part: “Too bad, but #blacklivesmatter per its core organization @Blklivesmatter just torpedoed itself, with its full-fledged support of #defundthepolice.” Uhlig said this effort was a “non-starter.”
Enter Krugman.
Fox News’s June 10 story on the matter was headlined: “Paul Krugman, professors seek top economist's removal from influential job for criticizing Black Lives Matter.”
Krugman launched fury at Uhlig for not being woke. Krugman retweeted University of Michigan Professor of Economics Justin Wolfers, who also tried to woke-scold Uhlig. Krugman captioned his retweet: “Editor of the Journal of Political Economy, a powerful gatekeeper in the profession. And yet another privileged white man who evidently can't control his urge to belittle the concerns of those less fortunate.” [Emphasis added.]
It is interesting for Krugman to wield the overused term “privileged,” while he sat pretty on a comfortable and secure New York Times writing gig throughout the pandemic. Meanwhile, millions lost their jobs due to the economic shutdowns. Krugman is also enjoying a net worth of $2.5 million.
7. Krugman got excited about the Dow Jones dropping to 25,000 in February.
As an American economist, one would think you might celebrate when the markets and the American economy prosper, and be concerned when the markets and the economy tank. Not so for Krugman.
The Dow Jones fell beneath 25,000 on Friday, February 28, as the markets skidded from the effects of the coronavirus.
Giddy, Krugman took to Twitter to proclaim the news in a celebratory tweet that simply read:
Dow 25,000!
The ratio that tweet got was ridiculous.
His apparent excitement was short-lived, however, as the Dow Jones would later soar Monday, March 2 to its “biggest one-day point gain of 1,293.96 after stocks had the worst weekly performance since the financial crisis.” NBC News reported at the time that it was a “comeback rally that represented the blue-chip index's best one-day point gain in history.” These kinds of roller-coaster effects in the market have continued to carry on throughout the pandemic. For example: On March 20, CNBC reported that the Dow dropped 900 points to its “lowest point since December 2016.” But just days later, CNN reported that the Dow “recorded its best week since 1938, gaining 12.8%.”
8. Krugman tweeted a disgusting screed that Sean Hannity has “blood on his hands,” or “his mouth.”
Krugman just can’t seem to be able to determine the difference between a valid correlation and leftist propaganda.
Krugman tweeted out an insane article from left-wing outlet Vox headlined, “A disturbing new study suggests Sean Hannity’s show helped spread the coronavirus.” He captioned it with a disgusting screed against the Fox News host: “Blood on his hands, or actually his mouth.”
9. Krugman tweeted a cringe joke that his cat is “superior to Donald Trump” because “he can drink water with no hands!”
In case you were wondering, Krugman isn’t a good comedian.
Krugman, who couldn’t beat Trump on the economic front, attempted to zing him June 22 by unleashing a photo of … his cat drinking out of the faucet.
So, Holmes drinks with “no hands” while on all fours?
10. Krugman belched hyperbole that Trump will “feel the need to tear gas someone, to prove his virility.”
New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman tweeted out an article June 14 deriding the president for criticizing his rivals. Haberman incorporated liberal whataboutism into her swipe at the president in a quote taken from the article: “‘The president has frequently tried to raise questions about the health and mental fitness of his rivals, while growing indignant when his own is questioned.’”
Krugman, in what appeared to be a pathetic attempt to be snarky, retweeted Haberman’s tweet with a caption: “Uh oh. Now [Trump will] feel the need to tear gas someone, to prove his virility.”
