New York Times columnist Paul Krugman is not taking Donald Trump’s victory well, judging by the meltdown on his Twitter feed and an aggrieved editorial rant he posted as Hillary’s electoral fortunes took a turn for the worst: "America, we hardly knew ye."And: "I have warned that we could become a failed state...deep hatred in a large segment of the population."
Krugman posted at nytimes.com right before 11pm Eastern time on Election Night, after the results had begun turning Trump’s way:
We still don’t know who will win the electoral college, although as I write this it looks -- incredibly, horribly -- as if the odds now favor Donald J. Trump. What we do know is that people like me, and probably like most readers of The New York Times, truly didn’t understand the country we live in. We thought that our fellow citizens would not, in the end, vote for a candidate so manifestly unqualified for high office, so temperamentally unsound, so scary yet ludicrous.
We thought that the nation, while far from having transcended racial prejudice and misogyny, had become vastly more open and tolerant over time.
....
It turns out that we were wrong. There turn out to be a huge number of people -- white people, living mainly in rural areas -- who don’t share at all our idea of what America is about. For them, it is about blood and soil, about traditional patriarchy and racial hierarchy. And there were many other people who might not share those anti-democratic values, but who nonetheless were willing to vote for anyone bearing the Republican label.
Krugman was quite confident in a Hillary victory in the run-up to the election. The day before he tweeted: “Remember when right-wingers used to claim that the stock market was the ultimate verdict on a president? The market is voting HRC, bigly.”
Krugman’s Twitter breakdown on Election Night, in chronological order.
A terrifying night, and not just because Trump might win. It turns out that there is a deeper rage in white, rural America than I knew/The voters there know what Trump is; they know what they're voting for, and they're doing it anyway. How does our society hold together?
Notice that North Carolina appears to be on the edge, and might be decisive. If Trump wins, suppression of black votes did it
You know Krugman’s tough because he cusses:
Also: the media harping on emails, which was, as Matt Yglesias says, a b***s*** issue from the start, may have killed the planet
Even if HRC pulls it out, how does she govern? The GOP has shown itself completely craven; now it will be fully in thrall to the crazies
I truly thought I knew my country better than it turns out I did. I have warned that we could become a failed state, but didn't realize that it wasn't just the radicalism of the GOP, but deep hatred in a large segment of the population. How do we move forward?
It's really tempting to engage in recriminations over this disaster. I am furious at a lot of people right now. But it doesn't help/ The point now is to figure out what to do in this horrible new world. Maybe, just maybe, there are enough aghast Republicans out there
America, we hardly knew ye. Certainly I misjudged the country. But as I said, recriminations don't help. The road back begins tomorrow/But right now, I'm just going to bed.
Krugman sounds awfully disappointed with his fellow Americans. However can he trust us again?
Back in May he was much more sanguine about Hillary’s chances, showing faith in polling and lecturing his media colleagues with his usual tact and charm
First, and least harmful, will be the urge to make the election seem closer than it is, if only because a close race makes a better story...The truth, however, is that polls have been pretty good indicators all along....If the average of recent polls shows a strong lead for one candidate -- as it does right now for Mrs. Clinton -- any individual poll that disagrees with that average should be taken with large helpings of salt.
