"A con artist is someone who deceives you for their own ends": Author Maria Konnikova tells Bill Maher why Donald Trump fits the description

"He's telling everyone exactly what they want to hear," Konnikova said. "And he doesn't actually say anything"

Published March 12, 2016 5:15PM (EST)

"Real Time" host Bill Maher last night welcomed "The Confidence Game" author Maria Konnikova to determine, once and for all, whether or not Donald Trump is, in fact, a con artist.

Konnikova told Maher that when she first saw Trump's steak and wine Mar-a-Lago press conference, she thought, "I'm a psychic. Because I clearly predicted that this was going to happen."

"He was blatantly lying," Konnikova said about Trump's phony steaks. "The hallmark of a con artist is someone who deceives you for their own ends."

"He's telling everyone exactly what they want to hear," she continued. "And he doesn't actually say anything ... That's what confidence artists do."

Konnikova explained how Trump aligns with elements of psychopathy, noting, "He does this very funny thing where, to his voters, he says really wonderful things to their face, and then behind their backs he says terrible things about the same groups."

"You end up seeing these two sides of him, where the truth is a really fungible thing," she added.

Watch the full interview below:


By Brendan Gauthier

Brendan Gauthier is a freelance writer.

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