Paul Krugman: Trump loyalists know he committed treason with Putin but 'it's an OK price for the racism'

In a series of tweets on Friday morning, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman accused "Trump loyalists" of knowing deep down in their hearts that the president committed treason, but they don't care because he appeals to their racist instincts.

Taking the measure of the national zeitgeist, the popular New York Times columnist said the steady drumbeat of revelations about the Trump administration -- including a bombshell report that claims the president may have suborned perjury -- should leave no doubt that the president's relationship with Russian president Vladimir Putin is treasonous.

But, Krugman asserted, Trump's biggest fans don't care.

"A thought about where we are as a nation: We're living in the age of the unsurprising revelation. Is there anyone who doesn't already believe that Trump-Putin-treason is a real thing? Even Trump loyalists surely know it's true, they just think it's an OK price for the racism," Krugman tweeted.

He then added, "The question instead is when and whether the evidence will become so dramatic, so blatant, that Trump's defenders won't feel able to keep pretending they don't know. That is, it's not really about what we learn but about how it plays."

Krugman then tied Trump's die-hard supporters to conservatives who have ignored the racism of Rep. Steve King (R-IA) for so long -- then acted shocked when the truth came out.

You can see the tweets below: