Jennifer Bendery reports that California Democrat Ted Lieu, who represents the state’s 33rd Congressional District, said Tuesday that the pressures of the job means every president should have access to a mental health professional. Since 1928, Congress has required that there be a physician assigned to the White House. But not a psychiatrist. That, he says, is an oversight:
“I’m looking at it from the perspective of, if there are questions about the mental health of the president of the United States, what may be the best way to get the president treatment?” Lieu said in an interview with The Huffington Post. “We’re now in the 21st century. Mental health is just as important as physical health.”
But he isn’t just thinking about future presidents. Lieu said he’s been increasingly alarmed by Trump’s erratic behavior and penchant for lying about things, big and small, that are easy to disprove.
“It is not normal for the president of the United States, within 24 hours, to write about death and destruction and fake news and evil,” he said. “The most troubling aspect of this is it is very clear he has a disconnection from the truth. … The very first press conference he had in this administration, they could have talked about jobs or health care. They talked about crowd size. And then lied about it. It’s one of the most bizarre events I’ve witnessed in politics.”
In fact, Lieu says, “I’ve concluded he is a danger to the Republic.”
Many other elected officials may be thinking Trump’s mental health needs examining, too. But only a few have publicly announced their views. Last week, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said she thinks legislation in this regard would be a good idea:
You probably are aware of this, but I found it intriguing that House Oversight Committee Chairman [Jason] Chaffetz told the Washington Post that he was weighing legislation that, in essence, says that if you’re going to have your hands on the nuclear codes, we should probably know what mental state you’re in. I can’t wait until he introduces that legislation to be able to join as a cosponsor of that … I think it’s a very good idea.
But Chaffetz’s legislation would only apply to future presidents and, in this instance, better late than never may not prove to be true.