Ty Cobb, a former White House lawyer who served as special counsel to Donald Trump in 2017 and 2018, called the disgraced former president “a deeply wounded narcissist” in an interview with CBS News reporter Major Garrett on the “Takeout” podcast.
“My personal view is that it’s less a character issue than a personality defect,” Cobb told Garrett. “I believe former President Trump to be a deeply wounded narcissist, and he is often incapable of acting other than in his perceived self-interest, or for revenge.”
Cobb told Garrett that narcissism and revenge were “the two compelling instincts that guide his actions” and inherently prevented Trump from admitting he lost the 2020 election — and from listening to his own advisers.
“Sadly, I think he’s gone through some talented advisers, good advisers, chewed ’em up, and is working with way too many people who tell him what he wants to hear,” Cobb told Garrett.
The former White House attorney said “abject narcissism” kept Trump from believing his former Attorney General William Barr, as well as the Justice Department entirely, who repeatedly told Trump that widespread voter fraud wasn’t to blame for his loss to Joe Biden in 2020.
Cobb recently told NBC News that Trump has been cashing in on that “big lie,” which “has brought him millions in donations, which some evidence suggests may have been mishandled.” He also bemoaned how many Republican officials continue to propagate Trump’s lie.
“I think it is so tragic,” Cobb told Garrett. “I criticized the current administration modestly earlier by saying they have no interest in healing — Trump has no interest in healing, either. I don’t think, sadly, that the future of America is enhanced by either position.”
Cobb added that the “Justice Department has signaled that they intend to prosecute” Trump “no matter what.” While many pundits believe Trump’s illegal mishandling of classified documents will spur charges, Cobb is confident his downfall will come elsewhere.
“I think the president is in serious legal water not so much because of the search, but because of the obstructive activity he took in connection with the January 6 proceeding and the attempts to interfere in the election count,” Cobb told Garrett.