House

Dem to join mental health group advocating Trump’s removal

by Cristina Marcos - 09/21/17 1:51 PM ET

A House Democrat is slated to appear next month at a gathering of mental health professionals who are questioning President Trump’s fitness for office, adding to a line of lawmakers openly suggesting he is not psychologically able to serve.

A spokeswoman confirmed that Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) is scheduled to speak at a town hall organized by Duty to Warn, a group of mental health professionals calling for Trump’s removal from office under the Constitution’s 25th Amendment because they think he is not psychologically fit.

{mosads}Raskin is expected to discuss legislation he introduced earlier this year to establish an Oversight Commission on Presidential Capacity that can determine if the president is incapacitated. His bill currently has 31 co-sponsors, all of whom are Democrats.

Under the Constitution’s 25th Amendment, the vice president and a majority of Cabinet members, “or of such other body as Congress may by law provide,” can jointly declare that a president is unfit to serve. Raskin’s bill would create an “other body” as permitted by the 25th Amendment.

The group of mental health professionals plans to host town halls across the nation on Oct. 14, including one in Washington, D.C., where Raskin will be speaking.

The American Psychiatric Association and American Psychological Association have long stated that it is unethical for psychiatrists and psychologists to offer professional opinions about public figures they have not personally examined.

But many mental health professionals have opted to forgo the guidance since Trump’s inauguration. Earlier this year, thousands of mental health professionals signed a Change.org petition to “declare Trump is mentally ill and must be removed.”

The petition was started by John Gartner, a clinical psychologist and former Johns Hopkins University Medical School faculty member who founded the Duty to Warn group.

An event description for the October town hall says the mental health professionals “believe they have a duty to warn the public about the dangers posed by Donald Trump’s mental health.”

Three psychiatry professors at George Washington University and its affiliated medical center and medical school are also expected to speak.

Raskin is among a handful of liberal Democratic lawmakers who have openly questioned Trump’s mental health, which psychologists have said risks politicizing mental illnesses.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) introduced a resolution last month suggesting that Trump undergo a physical and mental health exam.

Lofgren’s office issued a press release asking: “Does the President suffer from early stage dementia? Has the stress of office aggravated a mental illness crippling impulse control? Has emotional disorder so impaired the President that he is unable to discharge his duties? Is the President mentally and emotionally stable?”

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) also introduced a bill in April similar to Raskin’s proposal, but the “other body” under the 25th Amendment would be comprised of former presidents and vice presidents of both parties to determine if a president is fit for office.

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), another vocal Trump critic, initially said earlier this year he was planning to file legislation requiring the presence of a psychiatrist or psychologist in the White House. But no such legislation has been introduced to date.

Others haven’t gone as far as introducing legislation, but have still made comments questioning the president’s psychological state. Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.), the ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee, told a local NAACP chapter in February that he thinks Trump “doesn’t portray someone who is in control of his faculties.”

Tags Donald Trump Earl Blumenauer John Yarmuth