Psychologist: "Trump Cannot Accurately Assess Reality; He Could See Dead Bodies In The Street From The Coronavirus And Step Over Them. "Why Are All These People Lying Around?""

Dr. Justin Frank, a former clinical professor of psychiatry at the George Washington University Medical Center and the author of Trump on the Couch (as well as Bush on the Couch and Obama on the Couch), talked with Salon's Chauncey DeVega.

During these last few days at his "briefings" on the coronavirus, and through his pronouncements on Twitter, Trump's behavior has further devolved. ... At this point, his behavior is like an entry from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Beyond Trump's malignant narcissism and sociopathy lies paranoid thinking. ... A characteristic of paranoid thinking is rigidity – he never gives up his paranoid worldview about whatever he fears attacked by. ... In his press conference on Monday, when he had free rein to ask a question himself, he first attacked the press ... Because he is obsessed with the press being out to ruin him, he cannot accurately assess reality ...

There seems to be no bottom to Trump's pathological behavior.

There is no bottom. The only time you know about a bottom in human behavior is when a person reflects back on their behavior. One can say they hit rock bottom only in the past tense. ... When a person lies like Trump does, they are attacking reality itself on an unconscious level. ... Because Donald Trump lies about reality so much, he does not have the ability to cope with it. ... I've actually seen it happen in hospital settings. You can't convince a person out of a preconception if the person has been lying to themselves as extensively as Trump has. ... Donald Trump could see dead bodies lying in the street from the coronavirus and step over them. ... "Why are all these people lying around? How did that happen?" Trump would never think that he had anything to do with all of the deaths. ...

Trump has gone from saying the coronavirus was a hoax to claiming he was the first person to have used the term "pandemic" to describe it. How does his mind make such a huge move?

Because he really believes he's the first person to have said it's a pandemic. He really believes it. Trump also believes he's the first person to realize that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican. Trump is like a child who discovers something and says, "Did you know this?" ... When a person such as Donald Trump has a long history of lying to himself, he has eradicated or attacked reality. ... [But] reality must seep in. In this case, the coronavirus is penetrating Trump's delusional reality. Now Trump goes from calling the coronavirus a hoax to imagining himself as some type of savior who was the first person to realize the dangers ... Trump believes he can control reality, like some type of god. ...

When he talks about the coronavirus pandemic, Trump does not appear to care about the harm it is causing people. He always defaults to himself and then seeks praise from the members of his court. Trump appears to be incapable of empathy or sympathy or any level of human concern for others.

When Trump is basically saying, "Me! Me! Me! Me! Me!" it reflects a lack of genuine love from his parents, either one or both of them. ... That is narcissism or grandiosity. Those are behaviors and feelings which are compensatory for not feeling loved. ... He delivered the eulogy at his father's funeral. Trump said one or two sentences about his father and the rest of the speech was about himself. He does the same things today. None of Trump's behavior as president is new.

Trump leads a political cult. ... As in other cults, the members are in love with the leader. ... Whatever Trump commands them to do they will do, even if it means getting sick and dying from the coronavirus.

That is correct. Such a level of mass fanaticism is very disturbing, and is something that we have not seen in the United States on such a large scale. We have seen it with Jim Jones and other cults. People follow the cult leader to their doom. Of course, there was a similar type of fanaticism in Germany with Adolf Hitler. Trump's followers really need a strong leader to make them feel safe. ... [They] also want someone who will accept their aggression and destructiveness as being good and normal. ...

Let's assume one of the worst-case scenarios, that the coronavirus may kill more than a million people in the United States. ... President Lincoln was horribly guilty about all the deaths in the Civil War. Will Trump have similar feelings?

No. It is not an option. Donald Trump does not feel guilt. He is incapable of it. I have not seen Trump ever display any form of guilt for his behavior. If there were a million dead, Trump would still say that Obama did it ... the Democrats did it ... the Chinese did it. Trump is never responsible for his own behavior. ... One would think that repressing all that guilt would cause Trump or someone like that to have nightmares. But I don't think that Trump does.