'Big mistake': Columnist warns Trump's comeback may threaten even MAGA supporters

People who don’t consider themselves supporters of Donald Trump shouldn’t be the only ones wary about potential consequences if he returns to the Oval Office, a longtime New York Times columnist wrote, suggesting that this year’s election “could very easily be America’s last more or less free and fair election for a long time.”

“The guardrails that constrained him last time are gone,” and in the end, wrote Paul Krugman, if the former president takes back power, “it won’t matter if you aren’t undocumented or Puerto Rican or a vocal Democrat.”

“You may imagine that even if America becomes MAGAfied, you won’t personally be at risk. If that’s what you believe, you might want to think again,” according to Krugman.

In his op-ed published Monday in the Times, Krugman built his case that all Americans are at risk under a Trump presidency by highlighting a handful of occupations that the former president has railed against, including journalists, employees at government statistical agencies, librarians, doctors and even Trump’s fellow billionaires and businesspeople.

ALSO READ: Dems freaking out over ‘grossly incompetent’ Harris operation in Pennsylvania

“You may think that your wealth will protect you. Actually, however, it makes you a target, and an easy one, given the breadth of your business interests,” Krugman wrote.

Even longtime Trump supporters are vulnerable, he added.

“Radical movements that take power often end up eating their own. Sometimes that’s because they weren’t radical enough,” the columnist wrote. He noted that Trump’s former chief of staff John Kelly has gone on to describe Trump as “an authoritarian” and “fascist.”

“Sometimes, however, erstwhile supporters end up punished simply because they were on the wrong side of an internal power struggle,” Krugman wrote.

He concluded: “In sum, America may be about to become a very grim place. And those imagining that their lives would simply go on as before, untouched in any major way by the potential fear and chaos, are making a big mistake.”