'It is all crazy': CNN's Jeffrey Toobin goes off on people who try to insist Trump's rants are just jokes

On Thursday's edition of CNN's "The Situation Room," chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin scorned the idea from President Donald Trump's defenders that rants like his recent anointment of himself as "the chosen one" are made in jest, for entertainment value.

"One of the strange things about President Trump is that nobody has ever seen him laugh, like a full laugh on camera," said Toobin. "Think about it. You never see it. And this notion of explaining crazy things he says as jokes is not — that is just not true. He does not joke. When he said 'Russia, you know, I want you to find Hillary Clinton's emails,' they tried to explain it as a joke. It wasn't. Russia went right to work trying to find Hillary's emails."

"Maybe not a joke, but is it about provocation," said host Brianna Keilar. "Is it truly serious you think?"

"Yes," said Toobin. "I think when he looks up at the sky and says 'I am the chosen one,' I think what he meant is 'I am the chosen one.' This narcissistic approach to life, that is the way he has always been. The idea to explain it away as he is just joking, no, he is not. This is what he thinks. This is how he behaves. You know, the idea that somehow it will change or there will be adults in the room, it is all crazy. I mean, you know, he is who he is, and efforts to explain that he is not really the way that he is are increasingly futile."

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