You know with all the rising temperatures caused by Rep. John Lewis’ (D-GA) remarks about President-elect Donald Trump not being a legitimate president, we forgot about liberal economist and Nobel laureate Paul Krugman who first said that Trump’s win was illegitimate. Now, Krugman says that calling Trump an illegitimate president is a form of patriotism (via NYT [emphasis mine]:
Now Mr. Lewis says that he won’t attend the inauguration of Donald Trump, whom he regards as an illegitimate president.As you might expect, this statement provoked a hysterical, slanderous reaction from the president-elect – who, of course, got his start in national politics by repeatedly, falsely questioning President Obama’s right to hold office. But Mr. Trump — who has never sacrificed anything or taken a risk to help others — seems to have a special animus toward genuine heroes. Maybe he prefers demonstrators who don’t get beaten?
But let’s not talk about Mr. Trump’s ravings. Instead, let’s ask whether Mr. Lewis was right to say what he said. Is it O.K., morally and politically, to declare the man about to move into the White House illegitimate?
Yes, it is. In fact, it’s an act of patriotism.
Now, let’s not be snowflakes here; Krugman has every right to say these things. It’s free speech—and we’re just going to have to deal with the endless stream of liberal angst and hysteria over the next four years (maybe eight). We can respond in kind by saying that a) you guys, whether it be Rubio, Perry, Fiorina, Cruz, or even Jim Gilmore, were going to call Obama’s successor illegitimate if that person turned out to be a Republican; b) this would be considered treasonous back in 2009; and c) it does nothing but serve as yet another mechanism for liberals to use to avoid debating amongst themselves why Hillary Clinton lost. Yes, it may make you feel better, but after ten seconds of relief—you’re still saddled with reality: Donald Trump is the 45th president of the United States.
Most of the illegitimacy discussion stems from the Russian interference, which wasn’t a hack. Our intelligence agencies noted that the Kremlin flooded social media with propaganda and trolls. That’s not hacking. There never was an election hack. The Democratic National Committee and top Hillary Clinton adviser John Podesta’s emails were infiltrated. That’s not a hack. Even the Obama White House has put distance between themselves and Mr. Lewis, with White House Chief Of Staff Denis McDonough saying that outgoing President Obama feels that Trump was elected freely.
Krugman and Lewis need to get over it. Trump won, Clinton lost—and thank God for that.
