Trump’s Mental Illness Needs to Be Part of the Conversation in 2024
We periodically point out that Donald Trump is seriously mentally ill. From being a pathological liar to a textbook example of malignant narcissism, the former president displays a cluster of disorders that, in other circumstances, might not get him institutionalized, but would definitely justify some form of treatment.
The GOP seems intent on making President Joe Biden’s age an issue in the upcoming election (although Trump is only four years younger), and that is perfectly appropriate in light of the fact that the incumbent would be 86 at the end of a second term.
It is important that experts — rather than Fox News pundits, who interpret every one of Biden’s verbal slips as a sign of advanced dementia — weigh in on this topic. After all, being president is a stressful and highly demanding job, so is it possible for an octogenarian to do it well? That is a valid question, and it seems as though voters deserve an answer.
But they should also know whether one of the candidates is very likely completely nuts.
While Biden’s age is fair game, not just in the right-wing mediaverse but also among mainstream news outlets, Trump’s mental health, or lack thereof, is largely a taboo topic, even though it is a much bigger problem.
Most reporters don’t have a problem with mentioning Biden’s age. Yet the same journalists fail to spell it out for their audiences when Trump does or says something that is completely insane apart from labeling some of his most outrageous speeches “rants” or saying the former president is “unhinged.” But those are buzzwords and not a serious attempt to spell out that Trump is, to put it in layman’s terms, crazy.
