New York Times columnist Paul Krugman suggested on Twitter Friday that President-elect Donald Trump will intentionally allow terrorists to attack Americans during his presidency, arguing that he has "incentives" to do so.
"Thought: There was (rightly) a cloud of illegitimacy over Bush, dispelled (wrongly) by 9/11. Creates some interesting incentives for Trump," Krugman tweeted Friday afternoon.
Krugman's mention of the "illegitimacy" surrounding former President George W. Bush was a reference to the Supreme Court deciding the fate of the 2000 presidential election: Bush over Al Gore. Shortly after that, Democrats labeled Bush "selected not elected."
But that stigma was erased just a short time later after Al Qaeda attacked the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001. It was Bush's tough response to terrorism that won the heart of Americans.
And according to Krugman, because of the mixed feelings over Trump's impending presidency, he has an "incentive" to allow terrorists to attack America, so he, too, could have a swift military response and win the hearts of Americans.
The assertion was met with mockery on Twitter Friday afternoon:
To be clear, Trump has made his position on Islamic terrorism very clear — that he sees it as one of America's greatest foreign threats — which makes Krugman's assertion wildly inappropriate.
Chris Enloe
Staff Writer
