While speaking on Bloomberg TV, Nobel prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman explained why Donald Trump is so popular among the Republicans, and why he’s leading in most polls.
Krugman also argued that Trump’s popularity is a sign that the Republican party has lost all bearing and gone off the rails, and using 2012 as a blueprint, made a prediction about the outcome of 2016.
Donald ‘Mexican Rapists’ Trump
Donald Trump hit the Republican presidential race with the same force as the bullet that he used to shoot himself in the foot with right out of the gate. Early on in his campaign, Trump made a comment claiming that undocumented immigrants from Mexico were “rapists.” The comment caused dozens of potential corporate allies to defect, from NBC to NASCAR.
Despite this, however, Donald Trump is leading in most early polls, pulling first or second place with most Republican primary voters — despite or in spite of these comments.
‘A Belligerent, Loudmouth Racist’
Krugman has an idea why Trump is leading, and like most of his observations, this one is spot-on, too.
While speaking on Bloomberg TV, Krugman elucidated why Trump has captured the Republican zeitgeist with such ferocity:
So he’s a belligerent, loudmouth racist with not an ounce of compassion for less fortunate people. In other words, he’s exactly the kind of person the Republican base consists of and identifies with. It’s clear that the very things that Upper West Side New Yorkers find detestable about him are exactly what endear him to the Republican base, which is basically people who see in him everything — even the big red face and the yelling — that makes him their kind of guy.
Krugman then predicted the outcome of 2016, using 2012 as a road map:
We saw the same thing in 2012 — one after another, basically ludicrous candidates, but loudmouthed, angry ludicrous candidates, shot to the top of the polls. And in the end, they nominated Mitt Romney, who on substance was not that different [from] the others. And probably, the same thing will happen this time around, with Jeb Bush playing that role.
It’ll be interesting to see if this plays out like he predicts. But even if it doesn’t, Trump’s presence and the command he has will ensure that these GOP primary debates will be popcorn-worthy, at the very least.
Feature image via video screen capture
