In an exclusive interview, Psychiatrist Dee Mosbacher told Tana Ganeva of Raw Story that not only is the 25th Amendment “option” for getting Donald Trump out of office viable but that it’s imperative at this point.
The Constitutional directive has recently started floating around again after former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe sat down with CBS’ 60 Minutes and told the host that he’d had conversations at the highest levels of government — including with Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein at the Department of Justice — about exercising that option, should it become necessary, way back in the beginning of Trump’s presidency.
After the last few weeks of Trump’s Twitter timeline taking on a more and more manic tone, it’s starting to look like the President is incapable of discharging his office properly.
Ganeva asked the doctor and author of a chapter in The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump whether it should be invoked, and the answer was succinct:
I have been calling for a thorough neuropsychiatric evaluation of Donald Trump since November, 2016. He has shown numerous signs of mental impairment that warrant an immediate evaluation. This evaluation should include a thorough assessment of his capacity to perform the duties of office. Such an evaluation could take place if a neuropsychiatric consultation were requested after the 25th Amendment was invoked.”
Asked what behavior by Trump caused her to believe it was an appropriate step, Dr. Mossbacher told the reporter, “He is impulsive, belligerent, grandiose, careless, hypersensitive to slights and criticism, and seems unable to distinguish fantasy from reality.”
That’s terrifying on a level it seems hard to compare to anything we’ve ever faced with a President in the past.
But Dr. Mossbacher even provided details for what such an implementation might look like — a prescription that Democrats who might invoke the 25th could follow in order to retain impartiality:
If the 25th Amendment is invoked by the appropriate governmental officials, I hope that they will simultaneously create an independent, nonpartisan panel of mental health and medical experts to evaluate Mr. Trump’s capability to fulfill the responsibilities of the presidency. Such a panel should consist of three neuropsychiatrists (one clinical, one academic, and one military), one clinical psychologist, one neurologist, and two internists.”
We would love nothing more than to see Trump undergo a serious evaluation by people independent of his staff or appointments.
Featured image via screen capture
