On Tuesday's The Last Word, far-left MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell seized on President Donald Trump apparently misunderstanding a question from a reporter about whether the U.S. government supports Iranian protesters so that the MSNBC host could portray the President as "ignorant" and as mentally disturbed.
Before bringing on a Harvard psychiatrist to agree with him that President Trump is mentally ill, O'Donnell gave a longwinded explanation of how un-intelligent or "deranged" he thinks the President is.
At 10:40 p.m. Eastern, the segment began with a clip of President Trump ribbing French President Emmanuel Macron about whether he would like to accept former ISIS fighters into France, leading President Macron to respond, "Let's be serious."
Without showing viewers the zinger Trump later delivered by accusing Macron of giving a politician's non-answer, O'Donnell instead launched into Trump: "Ah, President Macron, I'm sorry, but Donald Trump does not know how to be serious. There are a few intersecting factors that leave Donald Trump stranded as America's clown on the international stage as he was, once again, today."
O'Donnell then continued his two-minute commentary explaining how "ignorant" he thinks Trump is:
Donald Trump is, first and foremost, the most ignorant person ever to hold the office of President. His ignorance appears to be limitless. He has never publicly spoken with any authority on any serious subject -- any presidential subject. Donald Trump's lack of real information combined with what appears to be gravely limited intellectual capacities so that, when Donald Trump as President is supplied with good information, he is incapable of processing it. He seems like a lost elementary school student who just can't process multiplication or even addition.
As the MSNBC host portrayed President Trump as not being knowledgeable about Iran as the explanation for why he misunderstood the question, O'Donnell ignored the fact that, earlier in the day, Trump himself brought up the killings of many Iranian protesters (click "expand"):
TRUMP: I also brought up -- and I'll bring it up right now -- the fact that Iran is killing perhaps thousands and thousands of people right now, as we speak. That's why they cut off th internet. So they cut off the internet so people can't see what's going on. But thousands of people are being killed in Iran right now. ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Mr. President, is there anything you can do about that -- those killings in Iran? Is there anything more that you can do -- that the United States can do?
TRUMP: Well, I'd rather not say right now, but I think it's a terrible thing, and I think the world has to be watching. But many people are being killed -- you're hearing that, too. Many, many people are being killed in Iran right now.for protesting -- for the mere fact that they're protesting. It's a terrible thing.
After a break, O'Donnell spoke with Harvard psychiatrist and author Dr. Lance Dodes, who helped write a book attacking President Trump's mental stability, titled The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: Thirty-Seven Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President.
As Dr. Dodes gave his commentary, one part that stood out was when he became the latest liberal to complain about Trump putting illegal immigrant children in "cages" at the border while ignoring the fact that it was the Obama administration that built the cage-like structures and began using them to hold both adults and children who crossed the border illegally until they could be transferred into ICE custody.
The Harvard psychiatrist even went so far as to call it a "crime against humanity" -- but apparently only when Trump does it:
Like many strong men, the con that he has works because he identifies himself with something that they love -- in this case, America. So, as long as they have the idea that he is America, that he represents America, that he literally wraps himself in the flag, which he's done, then it doesn't matter that he's a sociopath. It doesn't matter that he has no conscience. It doesn't even matter that he commits crimes against humanity, which he did when he locked up children in cages on the border.
Below is a transcript of the relevant portions of the transcript (click "expand"):
MSNBC's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell
Tuesday, December 3
10:40 p.m. EasternPRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Would you like some nice ISIS fighters? I could give them to you. You can take every one you want.
EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT: Let's be serious.
LAWRENCE O'DONNELL: Ah, President Macron, I'm sorry, but Donald Trump does not know how to be serious. There are a few intersecting factors that leave Donald Trump stranded as America's clown on the international stage as he was, once again, today. Donald Trump is, first and foremost, the most ignorant person ever to hold the office of President. His ignorance appears to be limitless. He has never publicly spoken with any authority on any serious subject -- any presidential subject. Donald Trump's lack of real information combined with what appears to be gravely limited intellectual capacities so that, when Donald Trump as President is supplied with good information, he is incapable of processing it. He seems like a lost elementary school student who just can't process multiplication or even addition.
UNIDENTIFIED JOURNALIST: Does the United States support these protesters in Iran?
TRUMP: I don't want to comment on that, but the answer is no, but I don't want to comment on that.
O'DONNELL: He doesn't want to comment on that because he doesn't have any idea what he's talking about. After he said that, his advisors must have explained to him how crazy his answer was, and so he later today tried to repair that damage with this.
TRUMP: The question was asked, "Do we support them?" I thought, financially. And we haven't supported them. I don't know that we've ever been asked to support them financially, and, you know, if somebody asks, maybe we would, but we support them very, very seriously.
O'DONNELL: Financially? Nobody has ever suggested supporting protesters in Iran financially, and no one was asking about financially. That was Donald Trump's demented way of trying to repair the damage from his earlier demented answer. And I use the word "demented" because that's the word that Donald Trump decided to apply to Adam Schiff today in a description of Adam Schiff that sounded like anyone else in the world describing Donald Trump. Which brings us to the madness of Donald Trump or the possible madness of Donald Trump, perhaps the most important explainer of the things that Donald Trump says and does. After this break, we will be joined by psychiatrist Lance Dodes, who will consider the mental health of the President of the United States...
(…).
O'DONNELL: Joining our discussion now, Dr. Lance Dodes, a former assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Dodes is a contributor to the bestselling book, The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: Thirty-Seven Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President.
(…)
DR. LANCE DODES, HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL: Like many strong men, the con that he has works because he identifies himself with something that they love -- in this case, America. So, as long as they have the idea that he is America, that he represents America, that he literally wraps himself in the flag, which he's done, then it doesn't matter that he's a sociopath. It doesn't matter that he has no conscience. It doesn't even matter that he commits crimes against humanity, which he did when he locked up children in cages on the border.
