Alan Rusbridger, columnist and former editor of The Guardian, explained how the moment of reckoning has arrived — it's time to be honest that President Donald Trump's mental state is declining.
In a column published Saturday for The Independent, Rusbridger detailed the major changes in Trump's mental health, including his rambling and confusing speeches, heightened narcism and tense temperament. He even suggested that America's founding fathers could not have predicted a character like Trump would ever find power in the nation's top job.
"They could not, in their worst nightmares, conceive of a president who would be simultaneously all-powerful and mentally unwell," Rusbridger wrote.
Despite Trump's slipping mental faculties, many continue "sane-washing" what Trump says to normalize how absurd his late-night rants and increasingly odd behavior have become, the columnist argued.
"The second coming of Trump has been accompanied by the creeping acknowledgement that he might either be mad or senile," Rusbridger explained. "And as things fall apart in his mind, so anarchy is loosed upon the rest of the world."
"'Mad' and 'senile' may not be precise medical terms, but pick your own symptoms," Rusbridger wrote. "Even his most fervent supporters can no longer hide their disquiet at his impulsivity, malignant narcissism and erratic volatility. All but the wilfully blind recoil from the deranged stream of consciousness that spews from his social media accounts at all times of day and night."
Trump's general disposition can't be downplayed.
"We can no longer ignore his conspiracy-obsessed mindset and his lack of control," Rusbridger wrote. "We can see for ourselves his increasing detachment from reality along with his increasingly frequent delusional claims. We flinch at his emotional volatility, his disregard for democratic norms. We shudder at his disinhibition, blustering menace, vengeful rantings and foul-mouthed posturing."
It's something the public should ultimately come to terms with and face, the columnist said.
"But now mere anarchy is being loosed upon the world on an almost hourly basis; it’s time to face reality," Rusbridger added. "There are around 30 weeks before Congress might reassert its power after the midterm elections. The most powerful man in the world does not have the mental capacity to do the job. And we have to stop behaving as though he does."