In a stunning press event on Saturday, Donald Trump suggested that the revelations made about his mental health in Michael Wolff’s new book ‘Fire and Fury’ show that free speech needs to be limited and libel laws need to be tougher.
When asked about the explosive claims, Trump said the fact that he went to “the best colleges” is proof that he is an intelligent, stable person. He also said the new allegations demonstrate that America needs to limit people’s ability to “say whatever comes to your head.”
The press conference was intended to be focused on legislative issues and the Republican Party’s 2018 policy agenda, but Trump couldn’t help but go on a tangent about his mental health when a reporter asked him why he spent Saturday morning tweeting about it:
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Trump Attacks Free Speech, Demands More ‘Libel Laws’ After His Declining Mental State Exposed #stablegenius pic.twitter.com/O4ojekBi19
— Sean Colarossi (@SeanColarossi) January 6, 2018
Trump said:
I went to the best colleges, or college. I went to — I had a situation where I was a very excellent student, came out and made billions and billions of dollars, became one of the top business people. Went to television and for ten years was a tremendous success, as you probably have heard. Ran for president one time and won. And then I hear this guy that does not know me, doesn’t know me at all, by the way, did not interview me — he said he interviewed me for three hours in the White House. It didn’t exist, okay. It’s in his imagination. … I consider it a work of fiction. And I think it’s a disgrace that somebody is able to have something, do something like that. The libel laws are very weak in this country. If they were strong, it would be very helpful. You wouldn’t have things like that happen where you can say whatever comes to your head.
It’s clear that Wolff’s book has gotten under Trump’s ultra-thin skin, but despite the president’s weak counterarguments – pointing to his education, his reality show and the fact that he won the electoral vote in 2016 – he has repeatedly demonstrated that Americans should be worried about his mental wellness. His early-morning tweets on Saturday are only the latest evidence of this.
The problem here is not the First Amendment or America’s libel laws, as Trump claims. The issue here is that, per Wolff’s behind-the-scenes account, the U.S. president behaves in a way that causes even his closest advisers to question his mental ability to discharge his duties as commander-in-chief.
But perhaps the president did have a point toward the end of his remarks when he said the country should revisit allowing people to “say whatever comes” to their minds.
We should start with him.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
