Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California introduced a congressional resolution in the House of Representatives on Friday that would demand a mental and physical health evaluation for Donald Trump. The bill stipulated that Trump ought to receive a thorough psychological and physical evaluation in order to see whether or not he is able to stay in office. By invoking the 25th Amendment, the bill utilized a provision that would permit the vice president and Cabinet members to collectively remove the president from his position in the case that his evaluation deems him unfit for serving as the leader of the United States.
According to the 25th Amendment, if the vice president and a majority of members of the Congress declare that "the president is unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office, the vice president will immediately assume" the role of acting president. The California representative also mentioned that the president had yet to offer the American public a preview of a "serious" medical evaluation.
Lofgren herself is not a psychologist or psychiatrist, according to Mercury News. But her comments arrived shortly after Trump issued statements to the press a few days after the Unite The Right rally on Aug. 12. The rally, which took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, took a deadly turn and resulted in the deaths of three people, according to authorities.
Trump delivered his comments on the far-right white supremacist violence in Charlottesville by saying there were good people in both groups of far-right protesters and progressive activists. While talking to reporters, the president said, "You have people who are very fine people on both sides." He also condemned anti-racist protesters and said, "You had a group on one side who was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent, and nobody wants to say that, but I’ll say it right now."
Lofgren took issue with Trump's comments and shared her thoughts on her official Twitter account while saying, "Something is seriously wrong with President Trump. Why can't he just condemn Nazis? Unscripted words today show who he really is. Shameful!"
This is not the first time a public official has invoked the 25th Amendment to demand a mental evaluation for the president. Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland encouraged House Democrats to co-sign a bill that would require Trump to undergo a test to determine whether he was stable to run the United States.
The mobilization for that bill came during the time Trump issued scathing remarks against TV anchors Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough. Explaining the motive behind the bill, Raskin said, "I assume every human being is allowed one or two errant and seemingly deranged tweets. The question is whether you have a sustained pattern of behavior that indicates something is seriously wrong."
Apparently Rep. Lofgren has started feeling the same.
