Recently, Atlantic columnist David Frum was shut down on a CNN panel after he attempted to psychoanalyze former President Donald Trump, who he claimed demonstrated signs of “clinical narcissism.” During a recent broadcast of “CNN This Morning,” even the other panelists on the left-leaning network noted that no one in the conversation had the authority to make such a psychological evaluation.
“We often casually use the word ‘narcissism’ to mean someone who’s self-involved, but clinical narcissism is different,” Frum said, speaking about Trump. “The clinical narcissist is struggling with deep inner feelings of worthlessness,” the former speechwriter for President George W. Bush continued. Frum has authored multiple highly critical books about the Republican presidential candidate.
Frum was then asked about Trump’s recent allegations that photos of Vice President Kamala Harris’ recent campaign events were either fake or manipulated in some manner. However, Frum continued to double down on his assertion that Trump is legitimately narcissistic. He argued that clinically diagnosed narcissists will create “a giant ideology of self-assertion to cope with their inner feelings of worthlessness.”
He continued his tirade against Trump, “When anything threatens to puncture those fantasies, those fictions, the person can spiral into all kinds of mental collapse. Into aggression, into violence, into self-hatred, but that’s the Donald Trump story. I think that down there is seething worthlessness and self-hatred. He’s constructed this fantasy of his life, and now it’s being contradicted, and he can’t cope.”
However, host Kasie Hunt interjected during Frum’s rant, reminding everyone that no one present in the conversation was a licensed psychologist who could accurately make such an assessment. “I will just say that none of us are actually card-carrying psychologists, so we’ll leave that there,” she said, before moving on to another member of the panel.
Later in the segment, Frum asserted that the Trump-Vance campaign was trying to portray Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, as a “sexual deviant of some kind.” Following this claim, there was immediate backlash from multiple other panelists. Frum said, “JD Vance spends way too much time online, and spends way too much time with people who are online,”
He continued, “A lot of what he says is going to be incomprehensible to you unless you participate in, or have some acquaintance with this strange underworld that he comes from.” He added about Vance, “I’m going to say this: it’s not nice, it’s not true, but what he’s trying to suggest is that Tim Walz is a sexual deviant of some kind.” Republican strategist Matt Gorman fired back, “What are you talking about? That’s ridiculous, David.”
Watch the CNN panel below:
The American Tribune recently reported on another incident on a CNN panel in which there was a fierce argument between Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) and a black professor who quarreled over the pronunciation of Vice President Kamala Harris’ name. A shouting match engulfed the entire panel as they debated over whether Mace was intentionally disrespecting Harris.
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.
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