CNN panel rips into Trump's 'narcissism' after 'chosen one' comment: Acting like a 'lunatic'

close

Video

Struggling CNN cuts staff even as it moves to fancy new digs

CNN is planning to reduce its headcount, leaving many staffers worried for their jobs. As the network's ratings continue to sag, over 100 CNN employees have accepted voluntary buyouts, including CNN International Executive Vice President Tony Maddow, who has been with the company for 21 years. This all while the company is moving to a lavish new facility in the Hudson Yards area on the West Side of Manhattan.

CNN commentators piled onto President Trump Thursday in a rant that was over-the-top even by the ratings-challenged cable network's standards, claiming the commander-in-chief is a "narcissist" and "lunatic."

"Where is the Republican Party -- where is anyone in that party who can say the emperor has no clothes and the emperor is acting like a lunatic? The narcissism and the constant lying -- it's obvious to anyone," CNN Chief Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin said while appearing on "New Day."

CNN political commentator Ana Navarro suggested that Trump might have a "messianic complex" and was trying to distract the country from his "skittish economy."

Anchor Alisyn Camerota had asked Navarro whether Trump was "just messing with" people or if she saw something else. "Is it mutually exclusive?" Navarro asked. "Can he be a raving mad narcissist with a messianic complex and at the same time be trying to distract us?"

DEFIANT TRUMP DIGS IN AMID BATTLES ON TRADE, GUNS, ISRAEL: 'I AM THE CHOSEN ONE'

Navarro also called the president "crazy" and admonished Twitter critics from telling her that she was unqualified to speak about mental health.

"You can save the tweets folks -- telling me that I'm not a mental health professional and shouldn't be talking about this -- because my 4-pound micro-poodle Cha-Cha can look at this and say that it is insane," Navarro said.

Camerota similarly suggested anyone could read a diagnostic manual and determine that Trump was a narcissist.

"You don't have to be a mental health professional, Ana, to read the DSM manual -- the definition of narcissism -- it spells out exactly the signposts and the symptoms," she said before mentioning his "chosen one" comment.

Their comments came after the president called himself "the chosen one" for addressing trade abuses by China.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“I am the chosen one,” the president said at one point from the South Lawn of the White House, defending his moves on trade, saying “somebody had to do it, so I’m taking on China.”

Toobin added that he thought Trump was completely sincere. "There are never any jokes with Trump," he said.

Fox News' Alex Pappas contributed to this report.