An Inland Empire lawmaker on Friday, April 17, waded into the continuing debate over President Donald Trump’s mental health during a tense back-and-forth with a member of Trump’s Cabinet.
During a House of Representatives committee hearing, Rep. Mark Takano, D-Riverside, asked U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. if he would “insist” on a mental fitness evaluation for the president.
“Absolutely not,” Kennedy replied before Takano — as happened several times during the exchange — interrupted him.
Soon after, Takano asked if Kennedy would support invoking the Constitution’s 25th Amendment, which allows the vice president and a cabinet majority to declare the president unfit for office, if Trump failed a mental or emotional fitness test.
“There hasn’t been a president who’s more sane or stable” than Trump, said Kennedy, who at one point smirked as Takano spoke.
During the exchange, a staffer behind Takano held up poster boards of Trump’s recent social media posts.
The first showed an Easter Sunday post Trump made on Truth Social — his social media platform — in which he told Iran to “open the (expletive)” Strait of Hormuz “you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in hell … Praise be to Allah!”
“Does this raise concerns for you about the president’s mental health?” Takano asked Kennedy.
“The president is a bargainer … and he knows how to make good deals,” Kennedy said before Takano cut him off.
Another poster board highlighted Trump’s April 7 warning that “A whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran didn’t agree on a deal to end the 48-day-old war that began with U.S. and Israeli airstrikes against Iranian facilities. Five days later, the president shared a social media image — later deleted — that appeared to liken him to Jesus Christ.
Takano, who represents Riverside, Moreno Valley and Perris, used the exchange to chide Kennedy for, in his view, being unwilling to do what’s best for the nation.
“Mr. Secretary, we can all see that this president is mentally unstable, emotionally unstable and is unfit to lead this country,” Takano told Kennedy.
“And you are choosing your loyalty to Donald Trump over your loyalty to the Constitution and keeping the faith with the American people.”
“You need the fundraising videos,” Kennedy shot back as Takano’s time for questions expired.