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‘A few’ Republicans think Donald Trump is mentally ill

US President Donald Trump claims he invented the phrase

US President Donald Trump claims he invented the phrase Photo: Getty

A Democratic senator claims that “a few” of his Republican colleagues have expressed concern to him about President Donald Trump’s mental health, directly relating to questions about Mr Trump’s truthfulness.

Minnesota’s Al Franken first raised questions about Mr Trump’s mental health on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, saying Republican senators privately express “great concern” about Mr Trump’s temperament.

“Some will say he’s not right mentally,” Senator Franken said. “And then some are harsher.”

Watch Senator Franken’s interview

He repeated his assertion on CNN’s State of the Union that “a few” Republican senators felt that way, saying their concerns stemmed from “the way that we all have this suspicion”, that “he lies a lot.

“He says things that aren’t true. That’s the same as lying, I guess”.

Senator Franken cited Mr Trump’s groundless claim that he would have won the popular vote in the presidential race were it not for three million to five million immigrants in the country illegally voting for his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.

The Washington Post has reported that Mr Trump is also said to have told some senators in a private meeting at the White House that he and former Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte would have won in New Hampshire if not for voters bussed in from out of state.

You know, that is not the norm for a president of the United States, or, actually, for a human being.”
Senator Al Franken

A ‘pathological liar’: Bernie Sanders

Meanwhile, former presidential hopeful, Senator Bernie Sanders has called Mr Trump a “pathological liar”.

Senator Sanders made the allegation on NBC’s Meet the Press programme, as he attacked Mr Trump’s travel ban and the Republicans’ plans to revamp the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).

Donald Trump mentally ill

Senator Sanders called Mr Trump a “pathological liar”. Photo: Getty.

“We have a president who is delusional in many respects, a pathological liar,” Senator Sanders said.

“Those are strong words,” journalist Chuck Todd responded, also asking the senator whether he could work with a “liar”.

“It makes life very difficult. It is very harsh, but I think that’s the truth,” Senator Sanders replied. “When somebody goes before you and says that three to five million people voted illegally … nobody believes that. There is not a scintilla of evidence to believe that, what would you call that remark? It’s a lie. It’s a delusion.”

The senators’ comments came as Democrats attacked Mr Trump’s travel ban and said that members of his administration should be investigated or have security clearances suspended for recent comments or conversations with Russian officials.

Priebus ‘way over his head’

Meanwhile, a longtime friend of mr Trump, Christopher Ruddy, told The Post Mr Trump’s chief of staff, Reince Priebus is in “way over his head” and should be sacked.

“A lot of people have been saying, ‘Look, Donald has some problems,’ and I think he realises that he’s got to make some changes going forward,” Mr Ruddy said in the Post interview.

“It’s my view that Reince is the problem. I think on paper Reince looked good as the chief of staff — and Donald trusted him — but it’s pretty clear the guy is in way over his head.

“He’s not knowledgeable of how federal agencies work, how the communications operations work. He botched this whole immigration rollout. This should’ve been a win for Donald, not two or three weeks of negative publicity.”

– with AAP

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