US economist and Nobel-prize of Economy winner Paul Krugman speaks to journalists after his meeting with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, at Abe’s official residence in Tokyo, Japan, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. (Franck Robichon/Pool Photo via AP)
As I wrote Tuesday, the mainstream media, liberal commentators, and Never Trumpers alike have all furiously worked in concert to downplay the potential benefits of using hydroxychloroquine as a Wuhan coronavirus treatment.
Among other things, they’ve accused President Trump of giving people as sense of “false hope” over what the media frequently describes as an “unproven drug.” They’ve even bizarrely blamed Trump for the death of a man who swallowed fish tank cleaner after Trump promoted hydroxychloroquine at press briefings.
Not wanting to feel left out of the crowd, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman joined in on the fray in a bizarre Twitter rant Monday after CNN commentator Keith Boykin posted a snide tweet about how Trump “sided with Peter Navarro” over Dr. Fauci in the hydroxychloroquine debate:
Peter Navarro, who is not a doctor, argued there was "clear therapeutic efficacy" of hydroxychloroquine.
Anthony Fauci, who is a doctor, pushed back against Navarro, explaining that there was only anecdotal evidence.
Trump today sided with Navarro.https://t.co/o7BV93r909
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) April 6, 2020
Krugman, who like Boykin also is not a doctor, responded by saying he believed it was “relevant to note that there is a long, close association between right-wing activism and medical quackery”
May be relevant to note that there is a long, close association between right-wing activism and medical quackery 1/ https://t.co/ZJ1DXyYGEi
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) April 6, 2020
He then referenced a 2012 hit piece on Mitt Romney that was written by liberal Rick Perlstein, in which the political “historian” accused Romney, Republicans and conservative media of being “snake-oil salesmen” for allegedly being “peddlers of … miracle cures and get-rich-quick schemes”:
Rick Perlstein documented "mail-order conservatism" long ago 2/ https://t.co/TaEXih9IHy
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) April 6, 2020
Not done, Krugman then equated extremist Alex Jones to popular right wing commentator Ben Shapiro, noting “Shapiro is also in the patent medicine business”:
Alex Jones peddled conspiracy theories as a vehicle for peddling nutritional supplements. Ben Shapiro, who is apparently the right's idea of an intellectual, is also in the patent medicine business 3/ https://t.co/CG926higoz
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) April 6, 2020
Lastly, Kruggie wondered whether Trump might have a financial interest in promoting hydroxychloroquine as a Wuhan coronavirus treatment:
Worth finding out whether, in addition to the desire for a miracle cure, there are some financial incentives for Trump to hawk a particular drug 4/
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) April 6, 2020
The “financial incentives” garbage has been thoroughly debunked, by the way.
You’ll note that Krugman did not provide a single shred of evidence to back up his insinuation that Trump’s and Navarro’s touting of hydroxychloroquine had any established relationship whatsoever with so-called “right-wing activism and medical quackery.”
What’s clear to me after reading Krugman’s rant are two things:
1) Krugman, like so many in the national media, is deliberately downplaying the possible benefits of hydroxychloroquine because of his visceral hatred for Trump.
2) Krugman, in my opinion, is fearful that the drug will actually work on a large scale. Because if it does, Americans will get better, our country can get back to work, and our economy can slowly but surely recover over time, the latter of which would be bad news for the Paul Krugmans of the world, who have come off as rooting for our country to fail.
Even knowing leftists in the media and how they constantly operate from an Orange Man Bad premise, it’s still a shocking thing to suggest. But there really is no plausible rationale other than that to describe what they’re doing.
(Hat tip: Newsbusters)
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