Civic Register
| 7.7.17

Democrats Question Trump's Fitness for Office

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President Donald Trump’s late night tweets, war of words with the media, and unpredictable behavior have caused some medical professionals and lawmakers to question whether he has the fitness to serve as commander-in-chief. Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD) has introduced legislation to examine the president’s physical and mental fitness, but psychologists remain reluctant to weigh in because of the perils of the Goldwater Rule.

What is the Goldwater Rule?

During the 1964 presidential election between President Lyndon Johnson (D) and Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-AZ), Fact Magazine published an article featuring a survey asking psychiatrists their opinion of Goldwater’s psychological fitness to be president. Of the 12,356 psychiatrists they asked, 2,417 responded and 1,189 said Goldwater was unfit to be president.

If you’re wondering how many of those psychiatrists personally examined Goldwater, the answer is zero. After losing the election in a landslide — Goldwater only won six states — he filed a libel lawsuit against Fact Magazine. In 1969 the U.S. Supreme Court in Goldwater v. Ginzburg* *sided with Goldwater and awarded him punitive damages that put the magazine out of business.

In the response to the Court’s decision, the American Psychiatric Association added a section to its principles of medical ethics in 1973, informally known as the "Goldwater Rule." It states that it is unethical for psychiatrists to give a professional opinion about public figures they have not personally examined and from whom they haven’t received consent to publicly discuss the figure’s mental health. Violating the rule could lead to members being kicked out of the APA, but it wouldn’t affect their medical license.

To this day, the APA says that "breaking the Goldwater Rule is irresponsible, potentially stigmatizing, and definitely unethical."

"Sign of a serious mental disturbance"

Congressman Raskin’s bill, named The Oversight Commission on Presidential Capacity Act, calls for the creation of an 11 member commission to examine the president’s physical and mental capacity to carry out the duties of the office.

According to his proposed bill, bipartisan congressional leaders would select four physicians, four psychiatrists, and three political figures (such as former presidents, vice presidents, and Cabinet officials) who would be responsible for examining the president and making a determination about his or her capacity. If it is found that the president cannot carry out their duties, the vice president would be able to sign off on the commission’s findings and invoke the 25th Amendment to step into the president’s role.

In explaining his rationale for the bill, Raskin pointed to comments made by Trump as a sign of instability:

"This is a president who has insisted that Ted Cruz’s father was involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy and that Barack Obama was born in Indonesia, and he has uttered blatant lies and never retracted them. And that is a sign of a serious mental disturbance."

Raskin’s colleague in the Maryland congressional delegation, Republican Andy Harris, described the bill to The Washington Post as "an insult to the entire medical profession" and “a thinly veiled attempt by Democrats to undermine a legislative agenda they disagree with.” For its part, the White House declined to “dignify this with an official response.”

Read more about Rep. Raskin’s bill and tell your reps what you think of it by following the link below:

— Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: @Katlinpegram via Twitter / Creative Commons)