MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell claims an answer that President Trump gave in an interview could be a sign of “mental illness.”
O’Donnell speculated about what could be gleaned about Trump’s mind when, asked on Meet the Press if he thinks he needs to uphold the Constitution as president, he answered: “I don’t know.”
“Donald Trump’s answer was: ‘I don’t know,’ which could be a sign of mental illness, or it could be a sign of early-stage dementia in a 78-year-old man,” O’Donnell claimed on The Last Word Wednesday night.
“Or it could simply be the product of a condition that Donald Trump has been exhibiting throughout his public life since long before he got into politics, and that is, of course, Donald Trump’s trademark public stupidity,” O’Donnell said.
“In Donald Trump’s case, stupidity is the most innocent explanation for his ‘I don’t know,’” O’Donnell continued. “But during mental health month, we have a right to consider other possibilities.”
Referring to The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, a study of the president’s mental health by 37 psychiatrists, O’Donnell said voters were warned during Trump’s first presidency of potential mental health issues and told it would “only go in one direction” as he continued to age.
“One of the possibilities that psychiatrists who considered the case of Donald Trump in their book—consider a mental health condition—is Donald Trump’s public pathological lying,” O’Donnell said. “And that could be what’s at work in one of the ‘I don’t knows’ Donald Trump said today.”
O‘Donnell later showed a clip of one example of Trump speaking at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. A reporter asked if the Trump administration is “sending migrants to Libya.” “I don’t know,” Trump said in response. You’ll have to ask the Department of Homeland Security.”
REPORTER: Is your administration sending migrants to Libya?
TRUMP: I don’t know. You’ll have to ask Homeland Security[image or embed]
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) May 7, 2025 at 7:51 PM
“Remember when Donald Trump would say anything to avoid saying ‘I don’t know,’ even though ‘I don’t know’ was almost always the correct answer when he was asked about any public policy issue?” O’Donnell went on.
“He is, after all, the most ignorant person who has ever won the most votes in the Electoral College, and he is the most governmentally illiterate person who has ever been relevant in any way to the American governing process,” O’Donnell continued. “And because Donald Trump always knew how ignorant he has always been about every aspect of government, he has always been desperate not to reveal his ignorance.”
“And so he has always thrown a flurry of words when asked questions, to which the true answer really would be, ‘I don’t know,’” O’Donnell alleged. ”He always did anything but say ‘I don’t know. Not anymore.”
Last month, the White House released a memo from the president’s physician claiming that Trump is in “excellent health” and showed “no abnormalities” in neurological and cognitive tests.
The report did also claim that Trump is 6′3”, 224 pounds, and made reference to his “frequent victories in golf events.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
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