KRUGMAN: There was a 'subversion of American democracy by a foreign government'

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paul krugman

Jeff Zelevansky / Getty

Paul Krugman

Paul Krugman, the Nobel prize winning economist and liberal New York Times columnist, suggested Monday that President-elect Donald Trump has sunk the American government.

In a series of tweets, Krugman expressed annoyance with journalists for what he saw as too-little, too-late outrage over Trump's denial of a reported CIA assessment that Russian-sponsored hackers were attempting to influence the US election and his possible appointment of Rex Tillerson, the CEO of ExxonMobil, as secretary of state.

"Question: are journos expressing shock or puzzlement over Trump/R[epublicans] response to CIA, Tillerson, etc. really that naive?" tweeted Krugman.

The economist said journalists should not be surprised that Republicans backed Trump despite issues like potential conflicts of interest with his businesses, the apparent Russian hacking, and more because they are "not a normal party" and will "do anything to win."

"If so, astonishing example of refusal to see the obvious until it bites you - and swallows your democracy," Krugman tweeted. 

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Krugman has strongly suggested in recent weeks that the FBI's investigation into Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server, combined with leaks of emails from the Clinton campaign - purportedly stolen by Russian-sponsored hackers - cost the Democratic nominee the election.

In his tweets Monday, Krugman said the analysts who ascribed the loss to something other than the hack were wrong.

"Faced with subversion of American democracy by foreign [government] and rogue FBI, 'Hillary should have run a better campaign' not a good response," Krugman said.

Following the election, Krugman has been active on Twitter, expressing his distaste for the outcome and Trump's actions so far as president-elect.

Here's the full tweetstorm:

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