🧵Based on extensive clinical observations & mounting scientific evidence, it's clear Donald Trump is both cognitively and morally unfit to be president.
(2/6) SUGGESTION: Hold a mirror up to his COGNITIVE UNFITNESS by focusing on four domains of his functioning.
a) Train of thought: “You say your mind ‘weaves,’ but it feels like you’re leaving yarn all over the floor.”
b) Memory: “When you seem to mix up people, not just names, I worry about your well-being.”
c) Complexity of thought: “Many of your past advisers and cabinet officers are on the record in warning the public that you are just no longer capable of addressing thorny problems. Doesn’t that concern you?”
d) Use of language: “In the past, you didn’t usually have trouble pronouncing words, repeating yourself, or using the right word.”
(3/6) SUGGESTION: Hold a mirror up to his MORAL UNFITNESS by focusing on three of his malignant narcissist/clinical psychopathy traits.
a) Lying: “Don’t you think it is disrespectful to the country to lie to them all the time?”
b) The ‘win at all costs’ and selfish “what’s in it for me?’ trait: “You have only one gear: win at all costs, whatever damage that brings to others. If you hadn’t undermined the bipartisan border security bill, who knows how many lives we may have saved from fentanyl and how much protection we would have gained from better securing our border. And all because you calculated it might hurt you politically.”
c) The arrogant/ conceited/self-justifying trait: “You claim to know more than all the generals, more than all the scientists, more than all the public health officials…I mean, really, do you expect anyone to take you seriously?”
(4/6) SUGGESTION: Challenge him.
“I know you challenged President Biden to take ‘cognitive exams’ so the public would have relevant information regarding his and your brain health. I am happy to take you up on that challenge….
“I am not talking about the 5-minute, one-page exam you took that only screens for a severe form of dementia. A comprehensive neuropsychological exam involves detailed tests of memory, attention, language, executive functioning, and emotional intelligence. It would require each of us to take a day off the campaign trail or golf course, but the electorate would no doubt appreciate our effort and transparency.”
(5/6) SUGGESTION: Trigger Him
When his responses are all over the place: “I think I speak for most people watching when I say I can’t follow what you are saying.”
If Trump tries to interrupt you when his mic is off: “Americans can’t hear you right now, but they should know you’re doing your yelling and name-calling routine. If some child did that in elementary school, they would send him to the principal’s office.”
(6/6) There are many contrasts you will want to make during Tuesday’s debate, Madam Vice-President. But hopefully these strategies will help you expose his cognitive decline and moral unfitness, highlight his unwillingness to truly submit to a cognitive examination—and trigger his disturbing behavior in new and disqualifying ways. Good luck!
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
🧵Shortly after Trump’s election in 2016, many mental health professionals spoke out about what they saw as the new president’s unfitness for office. Many associated Trump’s behaviors with particular psychological vulnerabilities that, in turn, predicted dangerousness. (1/x)
By doing so, these professionals were flirting with violation of an ethical provision of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) called the Goldwater Rule, which prohibits professionals from diagnosing anyone they have not personally examined. #GoldwaterRule (2/x)
In March of 2017, no doubt in response to those speaking out about the new president, the APA not only reaffirmed the #GoldwaterRule, but asserted that members should not offer any kind of opinion on public figures, even if was based on evidence and observable behavior. (3/x)
When Marshall Law and Insurrection Act are trending nearly 6 weeks after a General Election, we clearly see the power of a psychopath--aided and abetted by Fox News, talk radio, social media and a #ComplicitGOP--to shape events.
We remain in danger in large part because of a party that enables Trump, who could not mount his assault on US democracy without the support of the GOP establishment and the new Retrumplicans.
"Our media and political landscapes were morally compromised... white grievance and disgust with the political class were the kindling... but the blowtorch... is our 45th president of the United States"
1. Because of his greater than normal need for stimulation and impulsivity, disruptions to our government’s legal, financial, and administrative functions will accumulate.
2. In the exercise of his duties — at every choice point — power and dominance will prevail over others’ welfare. #DutyToInform