Mike Barnicle rarely makes a Morning Joe splash, but his description of Donald Trump yesterday as a “deeply damaged” man seemed to get some traction. And so, Barnicle recycled his shtick on Friday’s show.
On Thursday, Barnicle recruited Charlie Sykes to second his take. On Friday, it was Eugene Robinson’s turn to say that he “absolutely” agreed with Barnicle’s depiction of Trump as badly, deeply damaged.
Someone off-camera chipped in, describing Trump as “broken.”
Robinson, despite questioning his right to diagnose Trump given that he was not a psychologist, proceeded to don his Dr. Freud cap nonetheless, opining that Trump has “some deep insecurity and feeling of inadequacy.”
And between that and being a “really, really damaged person,” Robinson argued that Trump was “dangerous,” and would demonstrate that again if he were elected. Robinson concluded his analysis by offering up that Trump was “not a well man.”
There’s good reason to doubt Robinson’s analysis of others. After all, not long ago, Robinson vouched that Biden was not merely sharp, but “sharp as a tack.”
The normally circumspect Richard Haass agreed with Robinson’s “dangerous” take, adding that Trump was “unwilling and unable to put the country first,” having “an inability to put anything other than himself first.”
Note: This morning’s critique of Trump’s personality came in response to his refusal to celebrate yesterday’s hostage release. Trump criticized the swap, calling U.S. negotiators an “embarrassment.”
Here’s the transcript:
MSNBCMorning Joe8/2/246:37 am EDT
MIKE BARNICLE: Gene raised the issue quite cogently a couple of minutes ago. Why is it incapable [sic] of Donald Trump to say in the hostage release that, you know, hey, this is great. Good luck to them. I’m happy they’re home?
He can’t. And he can’t let Kamala Harris go. He can’t let that go. Why? Not because it’s politics, not just because he’s filled with hate and envy. I think, and I would submit –Gene, I don’t know if you’d agree with me or not — but he is a badly, deeply damaged individual.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON OFF-CAMERA: Yeah—broken.
EUGENE ROBINSON: Oh, yeah, I would absolutely agree. There is a deep — you know, beneath all that bluster — who am I to diagnose him, I’m not a psychologist. But there’s clearly some deep insecurity and, and feeling of inadequacy that causes him to, to, to continually lash out and puff himself up, and adopt this air of infallibility, which is, which is absurd. But that’s who he is. I think he is a really, really damaged person.
And, you know, because of that, and for a lot of other reasons, he’s a really, he’s really dangerous. He proved that in four years as President. He would prove it again if he were ever allowed near the White House again. This is, this is not a well man.
RICHARD HAASS: And the dangerous part of it, though, is also, and it’s a consistent thing here, is you have someone running for president who is, in some ways, unwilling and unable to put the country first. And we see that in the ungenerous reaction to getting these Americans home.
It’s a good thing for the country. Maybe it’s not a good thing for his political campaign, but there’s something else going on. It’s good for the country! It’s good for these families. And there’s a consistent pattern here, just an inability to put anything other than himself first. And that’s what we’re seeing in capital letters here.
