Paul Krugman is proving once again that just because you’re a Nobel Prize winner doesn’t necessarily mean you’re particularly smart.

As I wrote earlier today, I didn’t think the responses get much more absurd than Rep. Jim Clyburn’s (D-SC) defense of embattled freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) recent incendiary remarks about Israel and Jewish people.

Krugman, however, proved me wrong. In a tweet from yesterday, the New York Times columnist indicated that he was only afraid of “one brand of antisemitism”:

There are three things in life that are certain: death, taxes (unless you're Donald Trump), and persistence of anti-Semitism. But only one brand of antisemitism scares me – and it's not on the left pic.twitter.com/bvWmFfM945

— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) March 6, 2019

Twitter users slammed him:

I wish I could tell my Jewish ancestors in the Soviet Union that leftwing anti-Semitism is totally not scary, Paul Krugman said so.

— Karol Markowicz (@karol) March 7, 2019

I always want to think we've hit peak Krugman, and then he says that left-wing anti-Semitism doesn't bug him too much

— David Rutz (@DavidRutz) March 7, 2019

"When Democrats do it, I don't mind" ~ Summary of Paul Krugman on Antisemitism.

— Mickey White (@BiasedGirl) March 7, 2019

Far be it from me to tell anyone in the Jewish community how to feel when it comes to anti-Semitism, but wouldn’t you think any “brand” of anti-Semitism was threatening, no matter which “side” it came from?

I can tell you that as a woman, I have faced hate and threats from both the fringe left and the fringe right and it didn’t make sense to compare them because they were both bad and both frightening and came from places of hate.

But since Krugman is engaging in “whataboutism” here, we’ll go there.

The small mob of Charlottesville torch bearers were indeed a vile bunch, and sadly, several people got hurt and one was killed by a hateful random guy in the violence that took place during that march.

This is what Krugman calls “right wing antisemitism” even though the political right doesn’t condone anti-Semitism and doesn’t have a growing wing of elected officials and affiliated left wing groups routinely pushing anti-Semitic tropes.

On the other hand, the “brand” of anti-Semitism promoted by Reps. Omar, Tlaib, and other prominent Democrats is the kind that deliberately gets Jewish people targeted and murdered on a massive scale.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, apparently taking talking points from Krugman, weighed in this afternoon:

.@SenGillibrand: "Many Republicans have taken offense to Congresswoman Omar's remarks and condemned her in the harshest terms, but said little or nothing when President Trump defended white supremacists at Charlottesville" pic.twitter.com/meMxHwWr6B

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) March 7, 2019

Jewish conservatives were quick to correct the record:

I was critical of Trump at the time, but it's a lie that he praised neo-Nazis, even if it is endlessly repeated on the Left. And now it's used to excuse their own anti-Semites. https://t.co/C7XXsHnUqo

— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) March 7, 2019

We can also reach much further back than Trump’s presidency to see how anti-Semitic figures have been embraced and welcomed by the Democratic party.

Think Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan (an ally of the Congressional Black Caucus). Think Rev. Al Sharpton – a 2004 Democratic candidate for president and current MSNBC talk show host. Think Rev. Jesse Jackson – a Democratic candidate for president in 1984 and 1988 and still a respected “civil rights leader.” Think Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA-retired), who was a US Congressman for 24 years (1991-2015).

The Democratic party does indeed have an anti-Semitic problem. But it didn’t start with Trump’s presidency. And unless Pelosi and company can put a stop to it, it’s only going to get worse for Democrats – and the Jewish community.

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Flashback: Has Krugman ever been right about anything?:

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—Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 15+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter.–