Art of the Deal Co-Author Blasts Trump’s ‘Deranged’ Praise of Kim Jong Un: POTUS ‘Lacks a Soul’

On Saturday, MSNBC’s Joy Reid sat down with Art of the Deal co-author Tony Schwartz to talk about President Donald Trump‘s recent defense of brutal, human rights trampling North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Earlier this week, Trump was asked by Fox News’ Bret Baier about the “killer” despot and how he can continue to say nice things about him despite all the bad things he has done.

Trump replied, saying this: “Yeah, but so have a lot of other people have done some really bad things.”

Referencing that remark, Reid asked Schwartz about Trump’s praise of Kim Jong Un including going so far as to call Kim a “smart guy.”

Schwartz replied, “Only a person with no conscience could say that…That is deranged.”

Reid then asked Schwartz if, when working with him, he ever heard Trump express gentleness or empathy.

Schwartz responded by saying Trump did not have a soul.

“No. He doesn’t have empathy. He — I’ve been talking about this for a long time now, and I feel like it’s extreme to keep repeating it, but also, what we need to hear. He lacks a soul and he lacks a heart,” Schwartz said.

Then he continued on: “This is what happens to a person who grows up with a sense of deep inner emptiness whose sense of self is always at risk and who is fundamentally a black hole and all the stuff that comes in that makes him feel good about himself from outside then seeps out very quickly and he needs to quickly put it back in. He isn’t in the business of empathy. He’s in the business of Trump.”

Watch above, via CNN.

[image via screengrab]