Krugman Tweets Trump Might Have ‘Incentives’ to Allow 9/11-Style Attack on U.S.
Paul Krugman a Liberal New York Times columnist who is known not to shy away from controversy last Friday (16th December), decided to dive into the deep waters by posting a controversial tweet regarding Donald Trump, the President-Elect.
Krugman tweeted:
Thought: There was (rightly) a cloud of illegitimacy over Bush, dispelled (wrongly) by 9/11. Creates some interesting incentives for Trump
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) December 16, 2016
This tweet implies that that Trump could Stage an inside job terrorist attack similar to the 9/11 attack to legitimatize his presidency or rather to dispel the numerous claims of “illegitimacy” regarding his ascension to power.
Krugman statement further insinuates that, Trump is currently in a similar circumstance that the former President George W. Bush was in during the 2000 elections. The Bush’s presidential victory was also riddled with claims of illegitimacy with the Democrats claiming that Bush was selected and not elected.
However, the illegitimacy claims were erased after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks by the Al Qaeda. The Bush’s tough and swift response to terrorism after this tragic event won the hearts of the citizens, and the claims of illegitimacy were quickly forgotten.
Thus Krugman insinuates that, because of the mixed feelings surrounding the impending presidency of Trump; he has an “incentive” to allow a terrorist attack on the American soil on purpose so that just like Bush did, he could respond with a swift and tough military action to win the hearts of the critics.
Krugman’s assertion was immediately met with mix of mockery and disbelief by various Twitter users.
Trump’s Reaction
As you could expect, Donald Trump did not take the comments lightly. Though he did not address Krugman directly by name, it is obvious that Trump’s remarks were directed towards him.
While at a rally in Mobile, Alabama, Trump asked, what kind of a person would make such remarks. Trump continued to add that, when he was first informed of the words the columnist’s had used, he felt certain that it must have been a typo or a mistake, but to his surprise, this was not the case.
He was shocked that someone would insinuate that he could instigate a catastrophe that would lead to the death of thousands of people so that he could look good on his base. He added that anyone who would say such a thing must be demented, and that is the reason why the Times is failing.
Krugman has not been hesitant about his opposition to Trump’s presidency; he had previously predicted that if Trump won the elections, the American stock market would never recover, which is currently not the case.
