A MAGA pundit baffled the rest of her CNN panel by suggesting that a Trump foe "should be in a mental institution."
During an appearance on a CNN roundtable, former Trump White House press staffer Caroline Sunshine went after Anthony Fauci, who has been the target of GOP ire after the party hauled him into a hearing and reportedly contemplated pursuing contempt of Congress charges.
Fauci's diary from when he was the country's top health advisor amid the COVID-19 pandemic has been made public, and Sunshine said on Thursday night that the diary entries prove that he has mental disorders, a statement that shocked the rest of the panel.
"The guy should be in a mental institution," Sunshine said. "He's a textbook sociopath. I mean DSM-5-level sociopath who was running our pandemic response, low empathy, ability to inflict pain on innocents, narcissism."
However, the rest of the panel was far from taking Sunshine's declarations seriously and began to push back.
"Caroline, Caroline," the panel host, Abby Phillip, said. "Hold on. What? What are you talking about?"
Sunshine tried to defend herself by pointing out part of Fauci's diary where he seems to be admiring himself and the publicity around him, but Phillip didn't see that as unusual.
"Are you suggesting that he should be in a mental institution for having an ego?" Phillip asked, adding that the description "would characterize just about every single person in Washington."
Former Trump White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Matthews was sitting next to Sunshine, and she said, "I will acknowledge, was it very frustrating working in the White House press office and him being on a magazine cover or doing an interview on TV where he's talking ill about the White House and its COVID response? Yes, that was annoying."
However, Matthews said that doesn't excuse Republicans "trying to scapegoat him and say it's all his fault. We were dealing with a novel virus."