Gina Loudon, who claims Donald Trump is the most “sound-minded” president ever, has been called out for falsely claiming to have a degree in psychology.
The author of the new book “Mad Politics: Keeping Your Sanity in a World Gone Crazy” says “My book actually uses science and real data and true psychological theory to explain why it is quite possible that this president in the most sound-minded person to ever occupy the White House,” Loudon said on Fox News’ Hannity on Sept. 5.
“Literally, liberals’ heads are going to explode at what you just said,” Hannity told Loudon, who calls herself “Dr. Gina.”
“That’s the fun part of the madness is just watching them go crazy over the fact that he’s really pretty unfazed by them,” she replied.
Loudon, who says she’s a “member of the Donald Trump for president advisory board,” often appeared as an on-air surrogate during the 2016 election and has written for Breitbart News. Her website calls her “America’s favorite psychological expert,” and notes that she has a Ph.D.
According to the Daily Beast, Loudon doesn’t have a psychology degree or license. Her Ph.D. is in “human and organizations systems” from Fielding Graduate University, an online school based in Santa Barbara, California. On her LinkedIn profile, Loudon says her Ph.D. from Fielding is in “human development.” She also says she is certified in “Body Language Interpretation, and Hypnotherapy.”
(Human and Organizations Systems is actually a thing; a number of universities offer similar degrees. George Washington University describes its Human and Organizational Learning program as “designed to provide professionals with a foundation in relevant theories, concepts, and practices towards facilitating change initiatives and in becoming more effective leaders and decision-makers.”)
Loudon spokesperson Jason Browning told The Washington Post, “She has many degrees, including a Ph.D., all in the field of psychology. I see it as a distinction without a difference. Similar to how someone with a Ph.D. in Design Science might also say they have an Engineering Ph.D.”
Told about the inaccurate descriptions, Loudon’s publisher, Regnery, took responsibility and said it would correct them. “The jacket copy was written by Regnery, not Gina,” Alyssa Cordova, the imprint’s senior director of publicity, told the Daily Beast. “As Human and Organizational Systems is a field of psychology, we simplified that simply as ‘psychology.’ We will be updating with the specific degree description on future printings and online marketing copy to avoid further confusion.”
