CNN’s Harwood on Trump acquittal speech: ‘This is somebody in deep psychological distress’

Newly-hired CNN White House correspondent John Harwood called President Trump’s speech celebrating his impeachment acquittal “disturbing” and “dark” on Thursday, with the former CNBC reporter claiming that Trump is “in deep psychological distress.” 

“This was a very disturbing tableau for the country. It was dark because he’s made clear that his mind is dark. This is somebody in deep psychological distress right now,” alleged Harwood. “Self-pitying, insecure, angry.”

“With Donald Trump, if he did it, it’s not wrong,” Harwood continued on “CNN Newsroom.”
 
“He doesn’t recognize abstract concepts like right and wrong, like morality or immorality, like true or false, he recognizes what is good for him in the moment,” he said. 

Trump characterized his remarks from the East Room on Thursday afternoon as “not a news conference” and “not a speech.”

“It’s not anything. It’s just … a celebration because we have something that just worked out,” the president added in reference to his acquittal following an impeachment trial in the Senate on Wednesday.

“It’s called total acquittal,” said Trump while holding a newspaper headline declaring him cleared by the Republican-controlled Senate.

Harwood was signed by CNN last month after being at CNBC since 2006.

He has had some notable interactions with Trump, including at an October 2015 CNBC Republican primary debate when he faced criticism for his questions of then-candidate Trump.

“Let’s be honest,” Harwood said in his first question to Trump, the front-runner at the time who eventually captured the Republican nomination. “Is this a comic book version of a presidential campaign?”

Trump replied that it wasn’t, adding that he thought it wasn’t a “nicely asked question.”

Then-Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus took to Twitter afterward to slam CNBC and later decided to suspend an upcoming debate with sister network NBC as a result.