Economist Paul Krugman during FIDES 2023 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on September 25th, 2023 (A.PAES/ Shutterstock.com)
The No Kings Day protests, held in cities all over the United States in opposition to President Donald Trump's policies on Saturday, October 18, enjoyed even better attendance than organizers predicted.
The total number of demonstrations was originally estimated to be around 2500, but according to Axios' April Rubin, the number exceeded 2700. A No Kings Day protest in New York City was expected to draw around 200,000 people, but MSNBC's Antonia Hylton reported that turnout "far exceeded that."
Trump, however, said of the protests, "The demonstrations were very small, very ineffective, and the people were whacked out. When you look at those people, those are not representative of the people of our country."
In a biting Substack column published on October 21, economist Paul Krugman points to Trump's comments on the massive No Kings Day protests as proof that he is living in an "alternate reality."
From the No Kings demonstrations to Trump's weak poll numbers, Krugman warns, Trump is in denial about a wide range of things — and his army of sycophants are afraid to question him.
"In the grip of delusion," Krugman explains, "a powerful person will dismiss and destroy anything that challenges their self-aggrandizing alternate reality. This explains why there is no one in Trump's inner circle who dares to tell him that his poll numbers are, indeed, very bad; or that it’s a bad look to commute (former Rep.) George Santos' prison sentence for fraud and identity theft. When people try to tell him things he doesn’t want to hear, he gets angry."
Krugman continues, "Credible sources say that (U.S. Attorney General) Pam Bondi was reluctant to charge former FBI director James Comey given the flimsiness of the case. However, Trump made clear that this was non-negotiable — it was Comey or her. So Bondi saw to it that Comey was duly charged."
The former New York Times economist warns that Trump's "disconnect from reality is uniquely destructive."
"There are many, many more examples of Trump's delusions," Krugman observes. "He really does seem to believe that Portland is 'war-ravaged,' that Chicago is full of 'beautiful Black women in MAGA hats' begging him to stop crime, that China is going to cave to his trade demands, that gasoline is $1.99 a gallon, that he will lower drug prices by 500 percent, and much more….. No previous president has tried to overturn an election, sought to use the military against U.S. citizens, or sought to use the Justice Department as his own personal vendetta machine."
Krugman continues, "The difference is that he's the first president to live in an autocratic bubble, surrounded by a cult of personality within which nobody dares to criticize him, tell him uncomfortable truths or refuse to engage in blatantly illegal acts. Furthermore, Trump is clearly getting worse, growing even more out of touch with each passing week."
Paul Krugman's full Substack column is available at this link.