Economist Paul Krugman rips MAGA for putting their 'feelings' ahead of 'facts'

14 August

Economist Paul Krugman at FIDES 2023 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on September 25, 2023 (A. Pael/Shutterstock.com)

In 2019, a collection of columns by right-wing pundit Ben Shapiro was titled "Facts Don't Care About Your Feelings." Shapiro has repeatedly claimed that liberals and progressives are often motivated by feelings and emotions rather than facts and data, and he revisited that theme with a subsequent book titled "Facts Still Don't Care About Your Feelings."

But in a SubStack column published on Thursday morning, August 14, it is a well-known liberal — economist and former New York Times columnist Paul Krugman — who argues in favor of facts and data taking priority over feelings. And he reminds President Donald Trump and his allies that their feelings don't make facts any less true no matter how much they dislike those facts.

"Just under two weeks ago," Krugman explains, "the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a sharp slowdown in job growth — consistent with independent surveys that also show a slowing economy. Donald Trump responded by firing the Bureau's head and wants to replace her with an unqualified right-wing hack — let's be honest, OK? — whose big idea for dealing with troubling job numbers is to stop releasing them. This week, Trump seized control of the Washington, DC police force and sent in the National Guard to deal with what he claims is a runaway crime wave, even though crime in the District has been falling rapidly."

The economist continues, "What these two stories have in common is this: MAGA's feelings don’t care about your facts. And the rejection of data Trump doesn't like will surely extend to many areas beyond jobs and crime."

Krugman laments that Trump's nominee for U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) commissioner, E.J. Antoni, "has actually said that we should define a recession not on the basis of things like employment data or GDP but by how people 'feel.'"

"Now, that criterion wouldn't serve him or his master very well if we look at surveys of public opinion," Krugman comments. "The American people appear to feel really bad about the economy…. But we already know that Trump dismisses polls he doesn't like as fake news. So in practice, I think that Antoni is saying that we should define a recession by how Trump feels. And since he insists we're in a boom, it's all good."

Krugman points to an August 12 post on X, formerly Twitter, by Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller as a glaring example of MAGA Republicans reacting angrily to crime statistics they don't like.

Miller posted, "Crime stats in big blue cities are fake. The real rates of crime, chaos & dysfunction are orders of magnitude higher. Everyone who lives in these areas knows this. They program their entire lives around it. Democrats are trying to unravel civilization. Pres Trump will save it."

Liberal firebrand and former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann, in response, tweeted, "The fakery here is the idea that you could pass a sanity test, Fascist."

Krugman says of Miller's claims, "May I say that to anyone who pays the slightest amount of attention to New York politics, the idea that the NYPD is rigging the crime data to make liberal mayors look good is simply hilarious. Anyway, MAGA types feel that big blue cities are incredibly dangerous, and they aren't going to let actual facts about crime get in the way."

Paul Krugman's full SubStack column is available at this link.

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