Trump's Erratic Behavior and Extreme Comments Revive Mental Health Debate - The New York Times
By: Peter Baker (nytimes)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
As the president threatens to wipe out Iran and attacks the pope, even some former allies and advisers are questioning whether he has grown increasingly unbalanced, describing him as "lunatic" and "clearly insane."
President Donald J. Trump in Charlottesville, Va., last week.Credit...Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times
Trump's Erratic Behavior and Extreme Comments Revive Mental Health Debate
As the president threatens to wipe out Iran and attacks the pope, even some former allies and advisers are questioning whether he has grown increasingly unbalanced, describing him as "lunatic" and "clearly insane."
President Trump's erratic behavior and extreme comments in recent days and weeks have turbocharged the crazy-like-a-fox-or-just-plain-crazy debate that has followed him on the national political stage for a decade.
A series of disjointed, hard-to-follow and sometimes-profane statements capped by his "a whole civilization will die tonight" threat to wipe Iran off the map last week and his head-spinning attack on the "WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy" pope on Sunday night have left many with the impression of a deranged autocrat mad with power.
The White House rejected such assessments, saying that Trump is sharp and keeping his opponents on edge. But the president's eruptions have raised questions about America's leadership in a time of war. While the country has had presidents whose capacity came under question before, most recently the octogenarian Joseph R. Biden Jr. as he aged demonstrably before the public's eyes, never in modern times has the stability of a president been so publicly and forensically debated — and with such profound consequences.
Democrats who have long challenged Mr. Trump's psychological fitness have issued a fresh chorus of calls to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove the president from power for disability. But it is not just a concern voiced by partisans on the left, late-night comics or mental health professionals making long-distance diagnoses. It can be heard now among retired generals, diplomats and foreign officials. And most strikingly, it can be heard now on the political right among onetime allies of the president.
Former Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia Republican who recently broke with Mr. Trump, advocated using the 25th Amendment, telling CNN that threatening to destroy Iran's civilization was "not tough rhetoric, it's insanity." Candace Owens, the far-right podcaster, called him "a genocidal lunatic." Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist and founder of Infowars, said Mr. Trump "does babble and sounds like the brain's not doing too hot."
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In general, I do think we are heading in the direction of support for Trump completely collapsing. Unfortunately, no one in his orbit is telling him the truth , and 30% approval is still enough to create havoc for years.
The collapse can't come too soon. As you can see here on NT he still has his supporters who suck up every racist, misogynistic, bigoted word that spews from his mouth. When they finally go to the light then the collapse will be complete.
his devotees will continue to double down on their support for him until his last breath ...
at the current rate of his physical and mental decline, I'll be shocked if he's still breathing by this time next year ...
There are obviously some (many) who flat out refuse to deal with the reality of Trump. Hard to say if they are in severe confirmation bias, succumbed to a cult, or are so focused on defending their party that nothing else (and I mean nothing) matters.
That some (many) can watch this lunatic damage our nation (and now even the world economy) weekly and still defend this madman is despicable.
I have a theory about at least one of the cult members here but I can't throw it out here
Trump gave a truly deranged response to the controversy over his meme where he is healing someone. First of all he says it is fake news (even though he posted it himself). He also say the picture depicts him a as a Red Cross doctor and says he has always supported the Red Cross. He literally says he is dressed like a doctor in the meme.
He should have had a dermal regenerator or a hypospray in his hands if he wanted to portray a great doctor.
Yeah, I have never witnessed anyone who would lie as blatantly as Trump. He simply does not care that his lies are immediately known as such. The guy is deranged.
Of course you have.[✘]
Yes...yes there are
You acknowledge that Trump is a pathological liar. Given he is PotUS and lies daily to the American people, why do you still support him?
Sure are. Even more that are not on friendly terms with the truth.
No doubt it's hard to be on friendly terms with the truth when a person supports a prolific liar and convicted felon for President. I really can't imagine what kind of mental gymnastics it must take to keep supporting that lying sack of shit and convincing oneself that the shit they're eating up like gullible little piggies isn't actually shit but a delicious warm brown bowl of truth. It's apparently much easier for partisan halfwits to create their own fantasy world and just pretend that their conspiracy theories and bullshit narrative aren't all bullshit than to actually go get educated and learn actual facts and get out of the fucking rightwing pig shit ideology slop.
I think there's no doubt that a 25th Amendment ejection of Trump would be medically and legally reasonable.
But I doubt that "reasonable" applies to any of the people who would have to accomplish the act.
The 25th amendment requires 2/3 of Congress to vote in favor of making the VP the president if the sitting PotUS objects. Trump will object. Congress will demure.
How can the POTUS object to his own ouster by 25th Amendment? What the hell is that amendment for anyway?
It's more about a 79 year old President going into an unresponsive state like a coma and less like the out of control narcissist the congressional bootlickers are currently backing.
It is for all sorts of potential problems. A rational PotUS who has had a stroke, for example, might recognize that he can no longer fulfill his duties. And, of course, for situations where the PotUS is totally incapacitated such as what evilone noted.
It is frustrating that the people who could take Trump out of office will almost certainly not do so no matter what.
But he's insane!
Maybe... It's a difficult burden to prove legally for a regular citizen even higher for a POTUS. Maybe he's just incompetently stupid.
I think it is very simple. He is a psychopath who feels invincible and has nothing to lose. He is 79 and in poor health. And finally, he has spent his life lying to present an alternate reality that he prefers. No doubt he believes that no matter what happens, he can lie his way out of it because there are still too many gullible people who will believe him.
It's not about facts. It's not even about what the right thing to do is. It's about getting people to do it... and that is not simple. The legal requirement to find a normal person mentally incompetent in a contested law suit requires a court hearing which, if all parties can afford to, takes as many as three professional evaluations.
For a sitting President to be declared mentally incompetent takes the VP and a majority of the Cabinet to bring to a vote in Congress. They need a 2/3rds majority to pass.
It's never going to happen to Trump. We have a better chance of him being hit by a meteorite from space than the VP and Cabinet trying to declare him incompetent.
Exactly.
Impeachment and conviction is the most direct route and that is not going to happen either.
Nope... the Dems will not take 2/3s of each chamber so the chances are slim to none, and slim left town.
Correct, and Trump knows this and thus continues his attempts at tyranny.
Wait... I thought MAGA hated trannies... ooops. LOL!
He's clearly physically and mentally unwell, deteriorating day by day.
His family are just a bunch of awful people who knew he was unwell in his first term but feared losing both money and position if they did anything. Shameful!
Then failing to even try to intervene against him after he genuinely lost the election.
I have always believed his global empire was a shell game that also involved his sons and daughter. He ran for office fully intending to make enough to keep his failing empire afloat and that's what his offspring wanted too.
This is a mirror image of what the right said about Biden for four years but liberals just ignored them.
Pretty sure the right is going to ignore this, too.
Who knew ignoring Bidens mental decline would bite them in the ass so quickly
Debate? There's no debate. He's completely out of his mind.
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