Classless Krugman Rides Again: ‘Biden Versus the [Republican] Friends of Covid’

New York TimesPaul Krugman, columnist at The Daily Beast is back with conspiracy theories about Republicans trying to extend the Covid epidemic. Meanwhile, the left elites continue to prolong useless vaccine passports and mask mandate masks. In Friday’s column, “Biden Versus the Friends of Covid,” Krugman repeated his smears against half the country, just as he did last month when he flat-out accused Republican leaders of acting “like apparatchiks in an authoritarian regime….Catering to anti-vaccine hysteria, Doing everything possible to stop the pandemic[.]”

Last August, crazed Krugman called Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R), who has kept his state open and the virus numbers in control, an “ally of the coronavirus.” Is that better or worse than a “friend” of Covid? What was his crime? He was accused of blocking state business from mandating vaccine passports. This is now proven to have been ineffective against the spread and prevention of Covid.

On Friday, Krugman performed a modified limited hangout, admitting that Biden’s first year was ending on a “low note,” noting his unpopularity with the public, but then absolving him of blame for the pandemic, whose stubbornly continuous presence in American life Krugman considers a Republican plot:

One thing I don’t think gets enough emphasis, however, is the extent to which Biden has been hurt by the way the pandemic keeps dragging on — a dismal reality for which he bears little responsibility. It would have been easier to communicate, with more testing, masks, and other resources. But Biden’s biggest error on Covid-19 was underestimating the ruthlessness of his opponents, who have done all they can to undermine America’s pandemic response.

After a small dose of reality about closed schools being a nightmare for parents, Krugman got in a few jabs at past Republican presidents, before trying unconvincingly to assure readers that things were really rosy in America: “But the pandemic probably also darkens perceptions: People feel depressed and see empty offices and shops. This makes them look even worse..”

As if “closed shops and empty office buildings” aren’t awful enough, Krugman expressed worry about “right-wing politicians hav[ing] gradually shifted from claiming to be against vaccine mandates to being straight-out anti-vax,” and wondered: “But why are right-wing elites so hostile to vaccines?”

Then Krugman dove straight into partisan paranoia, proving the columnist has devoted more thought to his self-made conspiracies that the most feverish anti-vax right-wingers (click “expand”):

They are merely trying to stop Democrats from having any success in policy. Is it possible to believe that leading right-leaning figures are actively trying to make matters worse in order to blame Biden for his failures?

While the general public will often blame Presidents for any bad things that happen under their supervision, they have options. In 1948 Harry Truman successfully campaigned against “do-nothing” Republicans who were blocking his economic and housing agenda. Biden could also campaign against Republicans with more reason. Anti-vaccine rhetoric is risking the lives of thousands and putting at stake both our national economy.

This would work. We don’t know. What we do know is that a year of trying to be conciliatory and unifying hasn’t worked. It’s time for Biden to come out swinging.

Biden accusing his former colleagues of being “Jim Crow” racists for not voting the way he wanted was neither “conciliatory” or “unifying.” Where has this guy been the last 12 months?