Chris Matthews is not happy about Trump's messianic ramblings of this week.
"Donald Trump's belief in his own superiority is no surprise. Listen to some of the things he's said in the last couple years.
"Ron, I don't know what to say about that except the obvious comparison to what happened in the '30s and '40s in Europe, but let me tell you this, when I went to Catholic school, they used to have pictures of Jesus. I'm a Catholic, I wasn't just a Catholic. I am one," Tweety said to Ron Reagan Jr.
"They used to have these pictures of Jesus holding one finger in the air. It was like the way the Messiah, our Messiah, spoke to us when he gave us the beliefs, our beliefs. Trump does that, I have never known a politician in my life to put his finger up like that, like this. Like 'I'm the one. I'm the chosen one. Listen to my words.' "
"The tiny little hand there," Ron Reagan said. "You know, why not? Well, he is a narcissist, of course. And all of this is a defensive strategy for the narcissist. He doesn't really think all these things inside. He tries to convince himself of them, but let's remember. It's worth remembering, I think, he didn't really want to be president, and he didn't prepare to be president. It was all a big infomercial for him, and now it's kind of a reality show.
"He's obsessed with ratings and things like that, but he doesn't actually engage with the idea of being the president of the United States. Not interested in learning anything in particular. And so he just sort of floats along day to day in this stew of chaos that he creates."
Matthews agreed. "Susan, I don't think this guy did a lot of book work getting ready to be president. I don't think he read many history books, if any. I don't think he read like most politicians, great biographies which -- any politician I know reads biographies. Not interested in how people got to where they got. No intention of learning himself. No autodidact effort to help him lead."
"Because he's not a serious person. He is not a leader," Susan Del Percio said.
"I can't -- I want to stress this enough. People follow leaders. They're inspired. He tends to bring out that dictator sense of Mussolini, 'Follow what I say. You must obey me.' It's funny, my father used to say, 'Obedience I can demand. Respect I must earn.' He's not earned anyone's respect in the White House. He's learned what those powers are, to your point earlier, of what he can and cannot do. But when it's time to actually get something done like health care, he failed. He failed miserably!" she said.
"He likes rallies, though," Matthews observed. He compared him to old newsreels of Il Duce.
"He is a narcissist, he only likes the adoration of it, and he can only tolerate people who will bow to him," Del Percio said.
