and David Mendez
Congressman Ted Lieu plans to introduce a bill next week that would require President Donald Trump undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
Congress, Lieu told Huffington Post, in 1928 started requiring that presidents have a physician at the White House to insure physical health. But no such requirement has ever been extended to cover presidential mental health.
“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.”
Lieu told the Post that he’s been increasingly alarmed by the current president’s erratic behavior.
“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.”
Lieu, a Democrat from Torrance whose district covers all the South Bay and coastal communities up to Malibu, did not attend Trump’s inauguration.
“I had hoped he would govern differently than he had campaigned. What happened in the last few months is that my belief that he might change was shattered,” Lieu said at the time. “Not only has he not changed, in my opinion, he’s gotten worse.”
Lieu took particular issue with Trump’s criticism of Congressman John Lewis, a fellow Democrat and a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient who marched alongside King in the 1960s during the Civil Rights protests.
He is one of nearly 60 Representatives, including 15 from California, who did not attend the inauguration because of Trump’s disparaging tweets about Lewis.
Prior the inauguration, Lewis told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he didn’t believe Trump was legitimately elected because of hacking by Russian operatives that damnaged Hillary Clinton’s presidential candidacy.
Trump responded, “[Lewis] should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart… All talk, talk, talk — no action or results. Sad!”
Lieu’s decision not to attend the inauguration elicited a mix reaction.
“Not my congressman,” read one comment on EasyReaderNews.com.
“Whether u (sic) like Trump or not it is your job to attend,” another said.
Lieu responded to the criticism by noting, “There are no votes or policies being decided (at Trump’s Inauguration). This is pageantry. What makes America great is that, unlike Russia, we don’t force people to watch parades and ceremonies.”
Lieu said his decision was met by overwhelming support from people who contacted his office and commented on social media.
“I concluded that the best way to show my patriotism is to stand up to Trump, because on Day One, he’s going to be in violation of the Constitution,” Lieu said prior to the inauguration.
Article One, Section Nine of the Constitution prohibits presidents from accepting gifts from foreign states.
“Trump has massive foreign conflicts of interest…he can release his tax returns to show if he has special interests or holdings in Russia, but he refuses to do that,” Lieu said. “These issues of legitimacy, he can clear up. But until he does so, I’m not going to normalize him.”
