Psychologist: Ben Carson Is Wrong about Obama Being a Psychopath, He’s Actually A…

We’re not quite sure this is what the Washington Post was going for when they asked a licensed psychologist to refute claims that President Obama is a psychopath.

A few days ago, we reported on Dr. Ben Carson’s controversial comments which he made in an off the cuff assessment of the President’s State of the Union speech. Carson stated that Obama lies and looks good doing it – just “like most psychopaths.”

The Washington Post decided that just wasn’t right, and did a post which tried to prove Carson didn’t know what he was talking about.

The conclusion?

Psychologist Deborah Stokes said Carson was probably trying to say that the President is a “charming sociopath,” something she seemed to agree with because “we see that with politicians.”

She also stated that we also see that “with cult figures.”

Whoops.

Via WaPo (H/T Weasel Zippers):

In GQ’s profile of Ben Carson, the former neurosurgeon and potential 2016 presidential candidate called President Obama a “psychopath.”

Calling politicians you aren’t fond of psychopaths feels like an unfortunately routine part of our political landscape today, but Carson did more than just name call. In the interview, he pointed to Obama’s neat appearance as proof he’s a psychopath (“That’s why they’re successful. That’s the way they look. They all look great,” he said.).

Carson is a doctor, but I talked to some professionals to see whether they agreed with him.

Psychologist Deborah Stokes, PhD, said there is the concept of  “the charming sociopath,” which may be more of what Carson was going for in his description of Obama.  “They lure people in with their charisma,” Stokes said. “We see that with politicians, with cult figures and so forth,” she said, and in politics, “you have to be a little bit self-centered.”

The post then went on to basically say – Yea, but see? At least he’s not a psychopath.

Incidentally, a sociopath is defined as one with a personality disorder in which the individual has a lack of conscience.

A narcissistic sociopath on the other hand, has “a noticeable lack of regard for the rights of others and a tendency to regularly violate those rights.”

Carson it seems, just had the wrong personality traits in mind when he was discussing the President.

Readers – If you were a psychologist, what would your diagnosis of President Obama be? Tell us your assessment below.

Rusty Weiss has been covering politics for over 15 years. His writings have appeared in the Daily Caller, Fox... More about Rusty Weiss

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