It is wild to have the man who oversaw the FBI tell his associates that he thinks the President of the United States is crazy.
Donald Trump is crazy.
I’ve believed that for some time now. His dishonesty is so severe, among the worst measured by the Pulitzer Prize-winning Politifact, that it alone suggests a deep level of mental instability, but that’s not his only problem. The man was recorded openly bragging about grabbing women. He repeatedly suggested he’d like to date his daughter. His first wife said in a court deposition that he assaulted her, though she later backtracked from that claim.
So yeah, I think Donald Trump is crazy, but now we’re learning that James Comey, the longtime head of the FBI who was just fired by Trump, had told multiple associates that he not only believed Trump to “be outside of the realm of normal, ” but that he sincerely believed Trump might be “crazy, ” according to a New York Times report .
I have to pause right there. Maybe you are overwhelmed by the troubling tidal wave of news related to Trump’s White House. I think we all are, but I need you to understand just how wild it is to have the man who oversaw the Federal Bureau of Investigation — our nation’s premier intelligence agency, tell his close associates that he thinks the President of the United States might be crazy.
Comey firing fueled by Trump’s fury at FBI Russia probe: report
I’ve studied Trump closely for the past two years and have written about him dozens of times, but I’m not the head of the FBI. Comey, as you no doubt know, had been overseeing an investigation into possible connections between Trump’s campaign and Russia. To have that man, who possibly knows more about Trump than any of us could imagine, wonder if Trump is “crazy” is as disturbing as it gets.
The conclusion by Comey seemed to come after Trump publicly and repeatedly accused President Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower — which had absolutely no basis in fact. Trump then impugned Obama’s character over the wiretapping that did not exist and has refused to apologize for the false claim, no matter how many people have proven that it was a complete fabrication. If that’s not crazy, I don’t know what is. But again, we’re not dealing with isolated incidents of craziness here. This is the norm.
We have a President whose spokespeople have repeatedly been forced to tell the public not to take his words at face value and that we should look for the meaning behind his words instead of paying much attention to the words themselves. Again, that’s crazy. I’ve never been asked to do such a thing in my entire life. That’s not how words work. That we’re being asked to operate this way to accommodate Trump is beyond bizarre. He’s not a neighbor or co-worker, he sits in the most powerful office in the world. He has access to the nuclear codes.
It’s one thing for the FBI director to disagree with policies or style or day-to-day habits of the President of the United States. It’s completely different for the FBI Director to question the mental fitness and sanity of the man.
Stephen Colbert compares Comey’s firing to Watergate
James Comey has been asked to come before the Senate Intelligence Committee to testify next week. We have not yet gotten word as to whether he intends to oblige. I hope he does. He must. But whenever that time comes, and it surely will come, Comey must be asked how and why he came to such conclusions about the mental stability of Donald Trump.
I recently wrote that we had already crossed a point where the 25th Amendment needed to be invoked. In it, a provision exists for replacing the President of the United States in the event that he or she is mentally incapacitated or unfit to faithfully perform the duties of the office.
Comey’s criticisms of Trump go far beyond partisan bickering (Comey was a registered Republican throughout his adult life, mind you) , and his reported comments about the President’s mental health show that we’ve crossed a frightening line. Every single day with Trump in office puts our entire nation, and indeed the whole world, in grave danger.
