Michael D'Antonio, a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter and Trump biographer told CNN that Donald pitched the "rigged election" narrative because, "The idea of being defeated by a woman is almost unimaginable for him."

D'Antonio joined CNN's At This Hour to discuss the NY Times article that covers five hours of taped interviews in 2014 between D'Antonio and Trump.

The recordings reveal a man who is fixated on his own celebrity, anxious about losing his status and contemptuous of those who fall from grace. They capture the visceral pleasure he derives from fighting, his willful lack of interest in history, his reluctance to reflect on his life and his belief that most people do not deserve his respect.

In the interviews, Mr. Trump makes clear just how difficult it is for him to imagine — let alone accept — defeat.

Co-host John Berman asked, "Do you think knowing him like you do, that he's entertaining the possibility that he may not win this election?"

D'Antonio replied, "What he does is he sets a new goal if he sees defeat on the horizon he will say I'm not really headed in that direction anymore so in this case, he is positioning himself for a post-defeat reality which will be his TV network."

He continued, "It's winning, avoiding losing and the idea of being defeated by a woman is almost unimaginable for him so he's now trying to craft the excuse for why it was taken from him. That's what the whole rigged election thing is about. He doesn't believe the election is rigged. He doesn't believe there are going to be millions of falsified votes. He just wants to establish an excuse.."

Berman said that Trump does have a history of promoting the "rigged election" theme and D'Antonio replied, "But that's the escape hatch mentality. He always has a trap door to fly down and escape defeat."

This makes perfect sense if you're not a Trump surrogate or avid supporter.

As the election is winding down his entire campaign are becoming even more angry and nasty than they were.

Newt Gingrich's meltdown with Megyn Kelly, as well as Alex Jones' misogynistic insanity, are perfect examples of that behavior.