Paul Krugman: Why 'Trump is promising to rescue us from dire threats that exist only in his mind'

In economist Paul Krugman's latest column for The New York Times, he submits that when it comes to Hurricane Helene disaster relief, Donald "Trump is promising to rescue us from dire threats that exist only in his mind."

Krugman first notes that the GOP nominee "has been trying to exploit the natural disaster for political gain, claiming he heard that the federal government — [President Joe] Biden — and North Carolina’s Democratic governor are 'going out of their way to not help people in Republican areas.'"

But before highlighting the "disaster relief issue," Krugman highlights the fact that Trump, and his running mate JD Vance — who has literally confessed to creating a story — often lie about other issues, like immigration.

READ MORE: Trump — who has $4 billion — is now asking other people to donate to Helene relief

"Trump has been a true innovator in political dishonesty," the economist writes, and the former president has "constructed a whole dystopian fantasy world, trying to persuade voters that America is a nation with a collapsing economy overrun by violent immigrants."

Krugman asserts, "What’s new is that Trump’s vision of America-as-hellscape seems to be losing its political mojo. For example, a new Cook Political Report poll of swing states, while still showing Trump with some advantage on the economy, showed Kamala Harris tied on the issue of who can best deal with inflation and the cost of living, and barely trailing on who can best deal with crime and violence."

This, in Trump's mind, must mean that it's "time to conjure a new fake source of fear and outrage," Krugman continues.

Krugman suggests that Trump's "insinuation that Biden is denying aid to politically unfriendly disaster areas" is partly "projection," as the ex-president "was found to have done something akin to that when he was in the White House." The other part, the Times columnist submits is "it involves condemning Biden and [Vice President Kamala] Harris for not immediately visiting the stricken areas."

READ MORE: Trump mutters 'take a look' when asked to prove aid denial for Helene victims

Krugman then notes:

Biden and Harris, though, were just acting responsibly. In the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster, a high-profile political visitor with a huge security detail is the last thing you want — I mean, politicians aren’t much help rescuing stranded residents and repairing roads, while accommodating their visit would divert personnel and equipment away from the urgent task of saving lives and restoring essential services. Former FEMA officials expressed skepticism about Trump’s visit to Valdosta, Ga., soon after the storm passed, not only because he used the visit to politicize a tragedy, but because such a visit 'does eat up resources on the ground.'

The former president's "trash-talking of America" may have worked "politically" at one point, Krugman writes, but "at this point his fear-mongering over crime and the economy seems to be losing traction."

READ MORE: Damning reports detail Trump’s willingness to 'exploit major disasters' for political gain

Krugman's full column is available at this link (subscription required).