Former Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich slammed his party Tuesday over a new push to examine President Trump’s mental and physical fitness for office, calling it a “political statement, not a medical statement.”
“I think it’s destroying the party as an effective opposition,” he told Fox News’s “Fox & Friends.”
“People want political parties to be focused on America’s economic needs, jobs, wages, heath care, education, retirement security and peace -- and they want American politicians to be constructive, not destructive,” he added.
The bill, authored by Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., would create an “Oversight Commission on Presidential Capacity” that would conduct a medical exam of Trump to “determine whether the President is mentally or physically unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office.”
So far, 25 House Democrats have signed on as co-sponsors.
The bill cites the 25th Amendment, which in this case would give Vice President Mike Pence presidential authority if Trump is deemed “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.”
The same section, though, makes clear that the vice president and others would need to sign off on such a decision – which could speak to why Kucinich and other critics view this as a purely symbolic effort.
Raskin introduced the bill in April, but revived the push amid the controversy over Trump’s attacks on the media, including CNN and the hosts of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” (Fox News)
Kucinich believes Democrats are wrong to carry out this effort.
“What’s happening here is not good for the country,” he said.