Scarborough: ‘Paul Krugman Is Exactly Right’ About Trump Being Right on Economics

‘The Republican establishment, the Republican base have always been split’

RUSH TRANSCRIPT:
BRZEZINSKI: “I’ve chosen Paul Krugman just bouncing off what the president said.”
SCARBOROUGH: “OK.”
BRZEZINSKI: “Trump right on economics. Paul Krugman, he says [Jeb] Bush has chosen to attack Mr. Trump as a false conservative, a proposition that is supposedly demonstrated by his deviations from current Republican economic orthodoxy. His willingness to raise taxes on the rich, his positive words about universal health care. And that tells you a lot about the dire state of the GOP. For the issues the Bush campaign is using to attack its unexpected nemesis are precisely the issues on which Mr. Trump happens to be right. … And here's what's interesting: All indications are that Mr. Bush’s attacks on Mr. Trump are falling flat because the Republican base doesn't actually share the Republican establishments economic delusions. The thing is, we didn't really know that until Mr. Trump came along.’”
SCARBOROUGH: “That’s a –“
BRZEZINSKI: “Kind of interesting.”
SCARBOROUGH: “I am going to be like faintly – [crosstalk] – saying, … Paul Krugman is exactly right”.
SCARBOROUGH: “That’s kind of interesting.”
SCARBOROUGH: “Paul Krugman’s exactly right. You know, the Republican establishment, the Republican base have always been split, going all the way back to '94, Harold, you know, when we got there in '94, there were a lot more populists there who weren't really excited about hanging out with K Street lobbyists and weren't really excited about helping them pass their legislation through, but this is a great point that -- and, Mark, you see the split out on the campaign trail, the Republican base agrees with me, that billionaires shouldn't be paying 14 percent because of carried interest. Well, secretaries paid 28 percent, and -- but the Republican establishment fights back on that every day. And this is one of the reasons why Trump is catching fire. By the way, we've all seen the polls, over 50 percent of Tea Partiers want the minimum wage to be raised.”
HALPERIN: “One of the underappreciated aspects of Trump’s success, I think, is his instinct for where the public is. People focus on immigration, but on tax policy, on health care, his instinct of that split and where the energy is right now, it's pretty strong, not just populist, but anti-big institution, and he -- I think when people identify with him and say he's one of us, it's in part because he is not afraid to stand up to wealthy powerful institutions.”

 

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