Economist Paul Robin Krugman in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil during during FIDES 2023 on September 25, 2023 (A.PAES/ Shutterstock.com)
January 6, 2026 marks the fifth anniversary of the Capitol insurrection, which found supporters of President Donald Trump violently attacking the U.S. Capitol Building in the hope of preventing Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election. Trump's efforts to overturn 2020's election results led to two criminal indictments: a federal indictment prosecuted by special counsel Jack Smith for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' case for the State of Georgia — both of which were doomed when Trump narrowly defeated Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in 2024.
Liberal economist Paul Krugman looks back on the January 6 riot in his Substack column. That "day of infamy," according to Krugman, should have ended Trump's political career — instead, voters gave him a second term four years after voting him out of office.
"Five years ago, Donald Trump tried to overthrow an election he lost," Krugman writes. "He failed, and I assumed that the threat was over. Never in my worst nightmares did I imagine that he would make a comeback and return to the White House. But there he is. And he's every bit as bad as his opponents and critics warned he would be."
Eleven and one-half months into Trump's second presidency, Krugman warns, Americans need to "be clear about what is happening" politically in the United States.
"American fascism is on the march, and anyone who balks at saying that clearly, who makes excuses and pretends that Trump and the people he brought in aren't monsters, is deeply unpatriotic," Krugman argues. "If we are to have a chance at saving democracy, our first duty must be clarity. No sanewashing, no bothsidesing. Only facing the horrible truth can set us free."
Paul Krugman's full Substack column is available at this link.
