EAST ORANGE, NJ — President Donald Trump is scheduled to have his annual physical exam at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Washington, D.C., on Friday, Jan. 12, but East Orange 5th Ward Councilman Mustafa Brent wants to make sure the president’s check-up includes a psychiatric evaluation.
According to East Orange city clerk Cynthia Brown, Brent sponsored Resolution No. I-415, supporting a national movement mentally evaluate the president, at the Tuesday, Dec. 26 council meeting, the last of 2017. The council voted 9-0 to approve the resolution.
Although Brent sponsored the resolution, he did not vote on it because he was absent from the meeting.
“For your information, the council passed a resolution last night, in support of the passage of legislation requiring President Donald Trump to submit to mental and physical evaluation for purposes of determining his fitness for duty,” said Brown on Wednesday, Dec. 27.
The new resolution begins: “Whereas President Donald J. Trump has exhibited an alarming pattern of illogical and erratic behavior on both the national and international stage, this pattern of behavior has given rise to a reasonable concern that President Donald J. Trump may presently be suffering from a mental disorder that renders him unfit and unable to perform those duties outlined in the United State Constitution as the obligation of the chief executive of the United States.”
The resolution goes on to state that East Orange “implore(s) Vice President Michael R. Pence, members of the president’s cabinet and/or members of Congress to expeditiously secure the services of medical and psychiatric professionals to examine President Donald J. Trump for purposes of determining whether or not he suffers from a mental disorder or any other physical or mental impairment that prevents him from adequately and appropriately discharging his constitutional duties; and upon determination of the existence of clinical evidence of a lack of fitness for duty, begin the process to remove” the president.
While the resolution requests certified copies be sent to Pence, Rep. Donald Payne Jr. and outgoing Gov. Chris Christie, none of them were available for comment by press time this week.
However, Brent, who has sponsored two anti-Trump protest marches in downtown Newark, did have something to say about his reasons for authoring the resolution.
“When I joined the fire department, I was required to go through extensive physical and psychological testing, as were all of my brothers and sister in the armed services, to ensure we were fit to put our lives on the line for others,” said Brent on Tuesday, Jan. 9. “It is unconscionable to allow someone, let alone the commander and chief, and in his own words, the one in control of ‘the big red button,’ to be allowed to put others in harm’s way and not be required to undergo the same process. … We have a public, no, a moral responsibility, to demand a competence hearing to ensure he is mentally stable and physically fit to perform the duties of the leader of the free world.”
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