Dr. Phil hammers Trump on his 'addiction to revenge'
Dr. Phil McGraw, the former psychologist and Donald Trump fan, had a conversation with the ex-president which will air on Thursday evening at 8 p.m. on his own network, MRIT+. Among the things discussed in clips that are being leaked to the public is McGraw accusing Trump of being "addicted to revenge."
Trump promised McGraw it would be the highest-rated show he's ever had. McGraw is relegated to his own streaming service, where he has become much more political, hosting shows about economics under Joe Biden or Hamas, and using psychology to justify opinion.
Trump's brother was an alcoholic and despite ongoing attacks against Hunter Biden, Trump explained to Sean Hannity his brother's behavior was excused because it was an addiction.
In the clip McGraw teased, Trump's response to the comment wasn't shown.
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James Kimmel, Jr., a lecturer in psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine, highlighted Trump's addiction to grievances not long after the ex-president lost the 2020 election and before Jan. 6.
Writing for Politico, he explained, "Recently, I’ve been researching the way grievances affect the brain, and it turns out that your brain on grievance looks a lot like your brain on drugs. In fact, brain imaging studies show that harboring a grievance (a perceived wrong or injustice, real or imagined) activates the same neural reward circuitry as narcotics."
"It's a psychological interview that you're doing. You're sort of being my psychiatrist!" Trump tells McGraw. The camera shows the former psychologist with a slight smile on his face.
Recovery Integrity and Addiction expert Yeshaia Blakeney wrote in 2023, "He has likely been prescribed methylphenidate, for decades. Irritability [and] lack of sleep are side effects, so he likely has been taking benzos like Xanax to sleep, effectively putting him on a pharmaceutical cocktail long-term, locking in aspects of his personality as an addict would."
However, Blakeney admitted that he has no facts to back it up other than his own experience and assumptions.
"I've watched your show over the years," Trump says at another point in the interview, according to the teaser. "People break down crying, ohhhh ohhhhh, in the show. I said, 'That's never gonna happen to me!'"
"There is an addiction to revenge," the clip continues. "Nobody would fault you if you said, 'It ends here. It ends with me.'"
McGraw goes on to ask Trump what he thinks about when the crowds aren't cheering or what his "hardest darkest moment" is.