Fact Check:
Paul Krugman
Paul Krugman
Weโre All Rats Now
Time to take a stand, again, against racism
Paul Krugman
Jun 30, 2025
Zohran Mamdaniโs upset victory in New Yorkโs Democratic primary has created panic in MAGAland. Stephen Miller, the architect of Donald Trumpโs deportation policies, waxed apocalyptic:
Scott Bessent, the Treasury secretary, declared that New York is about to turn into โCaracas on the Hudson.โ
And Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama basically declared New Yorkโs voters subhuman, saying:
These inner-city rats, they live off the federal government. And thatโs one reason weโre $37 trillion in debt. And itโs time we find these rats and we send them back home, that are living off the American taxpayers that are working very hard every week to pay taxes.
These reactions are vile, and theyโre also dishonest. Whatever these men may claim, itโs all about bigotry.
Miller isnโt concerned about the state of New York โsociety.โ What bothers him is the idea of nonwhite people having political power.
Bessent isnโt really deeply worried about Zamdaniโs economic ideas. But he feels free, maybe even obliged, to slander a foreign-born Muslim with language he would never use about a white Christian politician, even if that politician were (like some of his colleagues in the Trump administration) a total crackpot.
And while Tuberville stands out even within his caucus as an ignorant fool, his willingness to use dehumanizing language about millions of people shows that raw racism is rapidly becoming mainstream in American politics.
Remember, during the campaign both Trump and JD Vance amplified the slanders about Haitians eating pets.
And now that theyโre in office, you can see the resurgence of raw racism all across Trump administration policies, large and small. You can see it, for example, in the cuts at the National Institutes of Health, which are so tilted against racial minorities that a federal judge โ one appointed by Ronald Reagan! โ declared
Iโve never seen a record where racial discrimination was so palpable. Iโve sat on this bench now for 40 years. Iโve never seen government racial discrimination like this.
You can see it in the renaming of military bases after Confederate generals โ that is, traitors who fought for slavery.
You can even see it in a change in the militaryโs shaving policy that is clearly custom-designed to drive Black men โ who account for around a quarter of the Armyโs new recruits โ out of the service.
So racism and bigotry are back, big time. Whoโs safe? Nobody.
Are you a legal immigrant? Well, the Supreme Court just allowed Trump to summarily strip half a million U.S. residents of that status, and only a fool would imagine that this is the end of the story. Anyway, when masked men who claim to be ICE agents but refuse to show identification are grabbing people off the streets because they think those people look illegal, does legal status even matter? Does it even matter if youโre a U.S. citizen?
And the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is set to massively increase ICEโs funding โ basically setting up a huge national secret police force.
Now, maybe you imagine that you yourself wonโt suffer from this new reign of bigotry and imagine that everyone you care about is similarly safe. But if thatโs what you think, youโre likely to face a rude awakening.
I personally donโt have any illusions of safety. Yes, Iโm a native-born white citizen. But my wife and her family are Black, and some of my friends and relatives are foreign-born U.S. citizens.
Furthermore, Iโm Jewish, and anyone who knows their history realizes that whenever right-wing bigotry is on the ascendant, weโre always next in line. Are there really people out there naรฏve enough to believe MAGAโs claims to be against antisemitism, who canโt see the transparent cynicism and dishonesty?
The fact is that the Trump administration already contains a number of figures with strong ties to antisemitic extremists. The Great Replacement Theory, which has de facto become part of MAGAโs ideology, doesnโt just say that thereโs a conspiracy to replace whites with people of color; it says that itโs a Jewish conspiracy.
So Iโm definitely scared of what the many antisemites inside or with close ties to the Trump administration may eventually do. And no, Iโm not frightened at all by the prospect that New York may soon have a somewhat leftist Muslim mayor.
Anyway, my personal fears are beside the point. Everyone who cares about keeping America America needs to take a stand against the resurgence of bigotry. Because the truth is that weโre all rats now.
MUSICAL CODA
Discussion about this post
Michael Roseman
Jun 30
Edited
For a while, American bigotry was ashamed of itself. Or pretended to be. Now it runs the government.
Reply
Share
106 replies
Megan Rothery
Jun 30
Edited
Take a stand -
Call. Write. Email. Protest. Unrelentingly.
Use/share this spreadsheet as a resource to call/email/write members of Congress, the Cabinet and news organizations. Reach out to those in your own state, as well as those in others. Use your voice and make some โgood troubleโ โค๏ธโ๐ฉน๐ค๐
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13lYafj0P-6owAJcH-5_xcpcRvMUZI7rkBPW-Ma9e7hw/edit?usp=drivesdk
Reply
Share
31 replies
852 more comments...
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ยฉ 2025 Paul Krugman
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Detailed fact-check analysis of:
Paul Krugman
Paul Krugman
Weโre All Rats Now
Time to take a stand, again, against racism
Paul Krugman
Jun 30, 2025
Zohran Mamdaniโs upset victory in New Yorkโs Democratic primary has created panic in MAGAland. Stephen Miller, the architect of Donald Trumpโs deportation policies, waxed apocalyptic:
Scott Bessent, the Treasury secretary, declared that New York is about to turn into โCaracas on the Hudson.โ
And Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama basically declared New Yorkโs voters subhuman, saying:
These inner-city rats, they live off the federal government. And thatโs one reason weโre $37 trillion in debt. And itโs time we find these rats and we send them back home, that are living off the American taxpayers that are working very hard every week to pay taxes.
These reactions are vile, and theyโre also dishonest. Whatever these men may claim, itโs all about bigotry.
Miller isnโt concerned about the state of New York โsociety.โ What bothers him is the idea of nonwhite people having political power.
Bessent isnโt really deeply worried about Zamdaniโs economic ideas. But he feels free, maybe even obliged, to slander a foreign-born Muslim with language he would never use about a white Christian politician, even if that politician were (like some of his colleagues in the Trump administration) a total crackpot.
And while Tuberville stands out even within his caucus as an ignorant fool, his willingness to use dehumanizing language about millions of people shows that raw racism is rapidly becoming mainstream in American politics.
Remember, during the campaign both Trump and JD Vance amplified the slanders about Haitians eating pets.
And now that theyโre in office, you can see the resurgence of raw racism all across Trump administration policies, large and small. You can see it, for example, in the cuts at the National Institutes of Health, which are so tilted against racial minorities that a federal judge โ one appointed by Ronald Reagan! โ declared
Iโve never seen a record where racial discrimination was so palpable. Iโve sat on this bench now for 40 years. Iโve never seen government racial discrimination like this.
You can see it in the renaming of military bases after Confederate generals โ that is, traitors who fought for slavery.
You can even see it in a change in the militaryโs shaving policy that is clearly custom-designed to drive Black men โ who account for around a quarter of the Armyโs new recruits โ out of the service.
So racism and bigotry are back, big time. Whoโs safe? Nobody.
Are you a legal immigrant? Well, the Supreme Court just allowed Trump to summarily strip half a million U.S. residents of that status, and only a fool would imagine that this is the end of the story. Anyway, when masked men who claim to be ICE agents but refuse to show identification are grabbing people off the streets because they think those people look illegal, does legal status even matter? Does it even matter if youโre a U.S. citizen?
And the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is set to massively increase ICEโs funding โ basically setting up a huge national secret police force.
Now, maybe you imagine that you yourself wonโt suffer from this new reign of bigotry and imagine that everyone you care about is similarly safe. But if thatโs what you think, youโre likely to face a rude awakening.
I personally donโt have any illusions of safety. Yes, Iโm a native-born white citizen. But my wife and her family are Black, and some of my friends and relatives are foreign-born U.S. citizens.
Furthermore, Iโm Jewish, and anyone who knows their history realizes that whenever right-wing bigotry is on the ascendant, weโre always next in line. Are there really people out there naรฏve enough to believe MAGAโs claims to be against antisemitism, who canโt see the transparent cynicism and dishonesty?
The fact is that the Trump administration already contains a number of figures with strong ties to antisemitic extremists. The Great Replacement Theory, which has de facto become part of MAGAโs ideology, doesnโt just say that thereโs a conspiracy to replace whites with people of color; it says that itโs a Jewish conspiracy.
So Iโm definitely scared of what the many antisemites inside or with close ties to the Trump administration may eventually do. And no, Iโm not frightened at all by the prospect that New York may soon have a somewhat leftist Muslim mayor.
Anyway, my personal fears are beside the point. Everyone who cares about keeping America America needs to take a stand against the resurgence of bigotry. Because the truth is that weโre all rats now.
MUSICAL CODA
Discussion about this post
Michael Roseman
Jun 30
Edited
For a while, American bigotry was ashamed of itself. Or pretended to be. Now it runs the government.
Reply
Share
106 replies
Megan Rothery
Jun 30
Edited
Take a stand -
Call. Write. Email. Protest. Unrelentingly.
Use/share this spreadsheet as a resource to call/email/write members of Congress, the Cabinet and news organizations. Reach out to those in your own state, as well as those in others. Use your voice and make some โgood troubleโ โค๏ธโ๐ฉน๐ค๐
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13lYafj0P-6owAJcH-5_xcpcRvMUZI7rkBPW-Ma9e7hw/edit?usp=drivesdk
Reply
Share
31 replies
852 more comments...
No posts
Ready for more?
ยฉ 2025 Paul Krugman
Privacy โ Terms โ Collection notice
Start writing
Get the app
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