Economist Paul Krugman poses before a conversation at the 92nd Street Y on Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Coinciding with the rise of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in national and state-level polls, his strong 2nd place finish in Iowa and his wins in New Hampshire and Nevada, there has been a clear effort underway in Democratic circles to mask who Sanders really is politically.

Leading the way in the disinformation campaign on behalf of Sanders has been liberal New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, who after President Trump’s 2016 victory over Hillary Clinton infamously (and erroneously) predicted a “global recession, with no end in sight.”

Just two days after Sanders was victorious in New Hampshire, Krugman actually declared that the Vermont Senator was not a socialist. He said this even though Sanders himself is an admitted socialist and even though another admitted socialist (AOC) enthusiastically endorsed his campaign in October.

And now, with the momentum clearly favoring Sanders, Krugman continues to run interference for his campaign. In the aftermath of Sanders’ clear victory Saturday in Nevada, Krugman logged on to the Twitter machine to make a few more absurd statements about who Sanders is and what kind of president he might be in a multi-tweet rant:

America under a Sanders presidency would still be America, both because Sanders is an infinitely better man than Trump and because the Democratic Party wouldn't enable abuse of power the way Republicans have 2/

— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) February 23, 2020

I'm more concerned about (a) electability and (b) if he does win, squandering political capital on unwinnable fights like abolishing private health insurance. But if he's the nominee, it's the job of Dems to make him electable if at all possible 4/

— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) February 23, 2020

To be honest, a Sanders administration would probably leave center-left policy wonks like me out in the cold, at least initially. But this is no time for self-indulgence and ego trips. Freedom is on the line 5/

— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) February 23, 2020

“Not a wannabe authoritarian”? LOL. “Center-left policy wonks like me”? Hilarious. “But this is no time for self-indulgence and ego trips”? Krugman’s entire rant was part self-indulgence and part ego trip.

You really can’t make stuff like this up.

Twitter users who aren’t blinded by Trump Derangement Syndrome were more than willing to counter Krugman’s fable-telling with a much-needed reality check:

Sanders has called for unconstitutional confiscations of wealth, for criminal prosecutions for political speech, and for ex post facto deprivations of liberty prosecuting people for currently legal actions. Sounds authoritarian to me, and won’t have bureaucracy resisting. https://t.co/OatzdJTJJq

— tedfrank 😷 (@tedfrank) February 23, 2020

Dear Lord….socialism IS authoritarian by its very nature, sir!

— Charles Bellows (@charles_bellows) February 23, 2020

I will unabashedly vote Trump before I vote for someone that plans on huge tax increases to pay for universal health care (a terrible idea in America) and free college for everyone. The types of taxation Sanders proposes is tyrannical and oppositional to freedom.

— That Angry Dick (@ThatAngryDick) February 24, 2020

Throughout the years, Krugman, while supporting every possible expansion of government power and acting as a hack for the Democratic Party, has always disingenuously denied that he is a socialist. Now he supports an avowed socialist. The mask has come off!

— Joe (@Joe21235278) February 24, 2020

Riiight, not at all. He just openly worships authoritarian, murderous regimes, and has always done so.https://t.co/zKdzTvSBru

— Rachel 🐶💙🇺🇸 (@RaychelTania) February 23, 2020

Yep, and he proved that on Sunday by defending his past praise of murderous Cuban dictator Fidel Castro during an interview on “60 Minutes.”

In summary, Sanders is an admitted socialist who routinely demonstrates his authoritarian tendencies by way of his policy proposals and every time he praises dictators like Castro. Krugman’s continuous and deliberate attempts at whitewashing Sanders’ record because Orange Man Bad can’t and won’t change those inconvenient facts about the Democratic frontrunner.