State Capitol rotunda (AP Photo/Steve Karnowski)
ST. PAUL, Minn. (CBS) – A bill that was introduced by Minnesota Senate Republicans to define so-called “Trump derangement syndrome” as a mental illness has provoked a backlash, with some saying the bill trivializes mental health care in the state regardless of the seriousness of its original intent.
The bill — authored by Minnesota Sens. Eric Lucero, Steve Drazkowski, Nathan Wesenberg, Justin Eichorn and Glenn Gruenhagen — called for “Trump Derangement Syndrome” to be added to the list of definitions related to mental health care in Minnesota.
The bill’s authors define, in the bill’s wording, the syndrome as “the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal persons that is in reaction to the policies and presidencies of President Donald J. Trump,” and go further to argue that it “produces an inability to distinguish between legitimate policy differences and signs of psychic pathology in President Donald J. Trump’s behavior.”
Lucero, appearing on a podcast recently, claimed that the idea for the bill germinated from Elon Musk calling the syndrome — which is not listed in the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, nor any past editions — “a real thing.” He went on to say that it would “allow for a coding … a specific coding.”
Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy pushed back, calling the bill “wasteful, frivolous and shameful,” and called it “possibly the worst bill in Minnesota history.”
“If it is meant as a joke, it is a waste of staff time and taxpayer resources that trivializes serious mental health issues. If the authors are serious, it is an affront to free speech and an expression of a dangerous level of loyalty to an authoritarian president. The authors should be ashamed, and the citizens we’re hearing from are rightfully outraged,” Murphy said.
The bill is unlikely to pass either chamber of the Minnesota Legislature. In the Senate, where it was introduced, it won’t get a committee hearing because Democrats have a one-seat majority. In the House, it’s tied, with an agreement that no bill will get to the floor for a vote without bipartisan support. As of Monday, there has been no version of this bill introduced in the Minnesota House.
On Monday, Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson responded to the outrage, saying that “Senate Republicans have always supported mental health funding, trying to make sure that there are resources available for that.”
Johnson said the bill was “a little bit tongue in cheek,” but also claimed that Democrats “have been railroading our committees by talking about Trump more than they have been talking about the deficit, the problems that we have here in the state of Minnesota.”
Johnson continued, “It’s getting to the point where it’s hard to have a serious conversation, even within our committees themselves. Let’s get focused on what’s important, prioritizing Minnesotans.”
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