Now Trump says he’s treated like Reagan ... who ‘had Alzheimer’s while president’
DONALD Trump yesterday dismissed speculation about his mental stability, saying he was being targeted in the way Ronald Reagan had been.
The US president, who had already tweeted, over the weekend, that he was a ‘very stable genius’, said his 1980s predecessor also had to put up with ‘fake books’.
But his reference to Mr Reagan only provoked more ridicule among his critics because it is claimed the actor-turned-politician had Alzheimer’s while in the White House. Mr Trump is at war with author Michael Wolff whose book portrays the 71-year-old president – the oldest to take office – as losing his mind.
Fire And Fury: Inside The Trump White House claims that Mr Trump is as impulsive as a child, repeats himself and cannot remember old friends.
Mr Wolff said that the US constitution’s 25th amendment, which allows for the removal of a mentally unfit president, is discussed in the White House all the time. He said: ‘This is not an exaggeration and it’s not unreasonable to say this is
‘Flawed human in the Oval Office’
25th amendment kind of stuff – it’s a concept that’s alive every day in the White House.’
Mr Trump responded by tweeting: ‘I’ve had to put up with the Fake News from the first day I announced that I would be running for president.
‘Now I have to put up with a Fake Book, written by a totally discredited author. Ronald Reagan had the same problem and handled it well. So will I!’
President Trump appeared to be referring to how Mr Reagan had to deal with unflattering books about his White House administration.
Mr Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 1994, and his son Ron has said that it began before he left office in 1989, a claim rejected by some leading doctors.
Mr Trump’s tweet was mocked on social media. Russ Zimmer tweeted: ‘It is very bizarre that he keeps using Reagan as a defence when RR had a degenerative brain disease. Does he not know that?’
Adam Schiff, a senior Democrat politician, led the criticism of the president, saying: ‘I don’t think there’s anyone in Congress, frankly, of either party, who does not concur at least privately with those observations and concerns.
‘Plainly we have a seriously flawed human being in the Oval Office. Will those flaws be allowed to permeate the whole of government? I’m seeing signs that they are,’ he added.
Mark McKinnon, a former strategist for George W Bush, said Mr Trump had been foolish because ‘the worst thing you can do is flatter the book with attention’. Mr Trump has already threatened to sue Mr Wolff and his publishers WW Norton.
A study by University of Arizona researchers found that between 1981 and 1989, his two terms in office, Mr Reagan used words such as ‘thing’ more often, suggesting advancing Alzheimer’s. Mr Reagan told the world of his illness in 1994, dying ten years later at 93.
Mary Carr – Page 12