GOP Minnesota Senators introduce bill that defines ‘Trump derangement syndrome’ as mental illness

Five Minnesota Senate Republicans are seeking to dub “Trump derangement syndrome” (TDS), a term coined to describe a form of criticism of President Donald Trump, as an official mental illness recognized under state statute.

Eric Lucero, R-St. Michael, Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa, Nathan Wesenberg, R-Little Falls, Justin D. Eichorn, R-Grand Rapids, and Glenn H. Gruenhagen, R-Glencoe, are the five politicians who drafted the bill that would add the so-called “syndrome” to a lengthy list of definitions related to mental health care in Minnesota.

If passed, a section of a statute that includes definitions for terms including “diagnostic assessment” and “outpatient services” would be appended to add one for TDS. The authors describe TDS as “the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal persons” in reaction to Trump’s policies.

“Trump-induced general hysteria” — which according to the bill causes people to conflate policy differences with the president with signs of “psychic pathology” in Trump’s behavior — is the politicized phrase’s primary symptom, the bill states.

Its authors go on to write that such “hysteria” typically manifests as intense verbal hostility toward the president and violence or aggression aimed at Trump supporters.

Political commentators critical of Trump regard TDS as a pejorative buzzword his supporters have embraced to cast the president’s liberal detractors as histrionic and stubbornly critical of Trump’s positions. Its origin traces back to 2003, when a conservative opinion writer described liberals’ reaction to President George W. Bush as “Bush derangement syndrome.”

TDS made the rounds during Trump’s first term, with conservative personalities from Sean Hannity to Jeanine Pirro invoking the so-called syndrome to criticize The Washington Post and Whoopi Goldberg.

News of the Minnesota bill prompted a fiery response from state Democrats.

“This is why Minnesota Republicans have lost every statewide election in recent memory — every time they get an opportunity to try to improve Minnesotans' lives, they instead double down on an agenda that caters to their party’s most extreme right-wing activists,” a DFL spokesperson said.

The bill was referred to the Health and Human Services Committee and is scheduled for a first reading on Monday.