“An exceptional natural capacity of intellect, especially as shown in creative and original work in science, art, music, etc.”
That is the definition of the word “genius,” per Dictionary.com.
Our president, Donald Trump, has decreed that he fits the description perfectly, but those who have observed Trump’s behavior during his time in office have selected other words. Words like “misguided” and “dangerous” come to mind.
Trump is not a young man nor is he someone who practices a particularly healthful lifestyle, and it makes good sense for the American people to ask the question — just how stable is our genius president?
Isolating Himself From Congress
Humans are social animals. Politics is a social game — and yet a year into his tenure, Trump is more cut off than ever from the people he’s supposed to work with. His unorthodox style has made it difficult for him to find colleagues that he can bond with, and his loneliness appears to be contributing to increasingly volatile behavior that only makes the matter worse.
Trump’s administration has fired off so many top officials you need a flowchart to keep them straight, and it seems that a new feud between the president and a White House staffer makes the news almost every week.
Republican Senator Bob Corker, who is also chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has been one of Trump’s favorite targets lately. Corker speaks plainly about his observations of Trump, comparing the White House to an adult day-care center and suggesting that Trump’s outrageous conduct will find our country locked in World War III.
A Professional Opinion
But should we really be concerned about mental health just because Trump faces strong opposition from members of Congress? If you’re worried that a hasty generalization is being made here, consider the professional opinion of Dr. Bandy X. Lee, a Yale graduate psychiatrist who briefed Congress on her assessment of the president’s behavior.
Lee presented her opinion, along with assessments from more than two dozen professional mental health experts, in a collection entitled “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump.”
The 25th Amendment
If Trump’s mental health is cause for concern, it could potentially lead to his early ejection from office. While it has never been invoked, the 25th amendment of the US constitution allows the vice president and a small group of “principal officers of executive departments” to declare the president unfit to lead based on mental incapacitation.
The amendment was never meant for a situation like Trump — wherein the acting president exhibited erratic behavior in such a regular manner, but was instated following the assassination of JFK and intended for a situation in which the president may have suffered trauma that caused him or her to become unable to lead.
Trump’s opponents are hopeful that a 25th amendment push could work, but it’s a longshot. Not only would the president’s own cabinet need to declare him unfit, but a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress would be required to uphold the decision. After being displaced, Trump would have the right to assert his fitness and trigger the vote again — we would probably be running in circles.
Life in Trump Land
So it’s not likely that his odd behavior will see Trump out of office, but that doesn’t mean the man is sane. This is a person who lives on a diet of McDonald’s cheeseburgers because of fear of being poisoned, who goes to bed at around 6:30 pm every night and averages four hours of sleep. Many of these behaviors may have been present before he took office, but now, with the pressures of the new job, they are being exacerbated.
Trump is no mental role model, and it seems like his own mental dilapidation is spreading to his people. The longer we spend drinking the Kool-Aid that comes out of Trump’s irrational ways of thinking, the more normal it becomes, and that is a precedent we cannot allow. If we do, no amount of crazy will be enough to discredit a future president.
Kate is a health and political journalist. You can subscribe to her blog, So Well, So Woman, to read more of her work and receive a free subscriber gift! https://sowellsowoman.com/about/subscribe/