A Fox News panelist said Tuesday that former President Trump responds with “uncontrollable narcissism and rage” when he feels insulted, pointing to the antagonistic election-night speech after winning the New Hampshire GOP primary Tuesday.
Jessica Tarlov, a rotating co-host of Fox News’s “The Five” and a Democratic strategist, said during a panel discussion late Tuesday that “it would be smart” for Trump to target the Nikki Haley voter, but she was not optimistic he would be able to moderate his position and temperament enough to appeal to the moderate voter.
Tarlov pointed to several election results that she suggested could have been a warning signs for Trump to change his tone but ultimately were not.
“He has an uncontrollable narcissism and rage about him when he feels insulted, and it’s appealing to the base, [who] say, ‘We love it. He’s a counterpuncher.’ But you’ve now lost a general election. You’ve presided over the loss of the Republican Senate, the Republican House. Abortion has been on the ballot seven times,” Tarlov said.
“Democrats have swept it in all of that, and he has not moderated at all. And frankly, I don’t think it’s in him for him to be able to do it for more than 20 minutes,” she added.
Trump beat Haley in Tuesday’s GOP primary by 11 points. Haley, in her post-election speech, accepted defeat but still struck an optimistic tone, pledging to continue in the race. Trump, in his speech following Haley’s, attacked his opponent and tried to pressure her to drop out, as all other high-profile primary challengers have done. At one point, he also criticized Haley’s dress, suggesting it looked cheap.
“We talk in the millions of votes when we’re talking about the general election. But it actually comes down to the tens of thousands. Right, the margins in Georgia and Arizona, in Michigan, in Pennsylvania; it’s minute,” Tarlov said in the panel discussion.
Tarlov stressed the importance of even getting the few voters on the margins if Trump wants to win in the general election.
She continued: “It can be the difference between whether you came out and you criticize your opponent’s dress, which some could interpret as demeaning a woman — again, which is obviously something that he suffers from — or just making a little offhanded comment that someone says, ‘You know what, I’m going to sit home’ or ‘actually, I want four more years of Joe Biden.’”