JOHN EDWARDS RIPS JFK & CLINTON

JOHN EDWARDS

Publicly JOHN EDWARDS is as confident and as cocky as ever but in private he's suffering a major meltdown, sources tell THE ENQUIRER.

Edwards suffered a "crazy meltdown" that horrified his advisers and sparked fears that he's spinning completely out of control from the pressures of his criminal trial, say sources.

If the former presidential candidate is convicted of using campaign funds to cover up his affair with his baby mama RIELLE HUNTER, he could be sentenced to as much as 30 years behind bars. and that prospect recently propelled him into a wild rant in front of a few intimate friends.

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"He was kicking back beers and began crying and talking nuts!" revealed a close source.

"He completely melted down and began ranting about how former presidents JOHN F. KENNEDY and BILL CLINTON had affairs. Between tears, he said, 'They got away with their affairs but everyone is out to get me – it's so unfair!'"

His pals tried to reassure the former senator that those politicians also paid a price for cheating, "but John believes the world is out to get him and make an example of him – and he's completely losing it," declared the source.

Another insider told The ENQUIRER: "John could very well become completely unglued during the trial. he just can't understand why he is so hated.

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"The trial and relentless negative publicity have taken their toll. He broke down, tearfully asking a pal, 'Why me?' he sobbed about how unfair life is.

"John's few remaining friends are seriously worried about his mental state and his physical health because he has a heart condition."

Another close friend, lawyer Glenn Bergenfield, who attended law school with Edwards, was recently quoted in "The Washington Post" saying: "John thinks the treatment of him is so unflinchingly horrible and that what he did is not so different from what others did – JFK, Clinton, the whole rogues' gallery…"

Federal prosecutors say Edwards violated campaign-finance laws by using nearly $1 million in political donations to conceal his affair with blonde divorcee Rielle, a scandal that was exposed in a series of blockbuster ENQUIRER articles.

Declared the close source: "Whether John has the mental strength to go through this trial remains to be seen."