Five Republican lawmakers in the Minnesota Senate are set to introduce a bill on Monday to designate “Trump derangement syndrome” as a legitimate mental illness in the state.
“Trump derangement syndrome” is a term frequently used by President Donald Trump and Trump supporters.
It is often used in reference to perceived political opponents and to describe someone who they feel has a biased preoccupation with Trump. It is not recognized as a mental health diagnosis.
The GOP-backed bill would define the syndrome as an “acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal persons that is in reaction to the policies and presidencies of President Donald J. Trump.”
“Symptoms may include Trump-induced general hysteria, which produces an inability to distinguish between legitimate policy differences and signs of psychic pathology in President Donald J. Trump’s behavior,” the bill reads.
Should the legislation pass, a section of a statute that defines terms, including “diagnostic assessment” and “outpatient services,” would be amended to add a section for “Trump derangement syndrome.”
The legislation is unlikely to pass as the Minnesota House is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, and Democrats have a one-seat majority in the Minnesota Senate.
Minnesota Democrats criticized the Republicans’ bill.
“This is why Minnesota Republicans have lost every statewide election in recent memory — every time they get an opportunity to try to improve Minnesotans’ lives, they instead double down on an agenda that caters to their party’s most extreme right-wing activists,” the Democratic Farmer-Labor Party wrote in a statement.
The “derangement syndrome” political phrase dates back to 2003 during George W. Bush’s administration from political commentator Charles Krauthammer, who used “Bush derangement syndrome” to describe Bush critics.
The Minnesota bill uses the exact phrasing Krauthammer used to describe “Bush derangement syndrome,” which he described as “the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the presidency — nay — the very existence of George W. Bush.”
