Why Donald Trump’s post-Covid mental stability is being questioned as he prepares for rally return
ITV News Correspondent Emma Murphy reports from Washington
The US President has been given the all-clear to resume campaigning on Saturday.
His doctors released a statement saying he is symptom free and that by Saturday it will have been ten days since Donald Trump’s diagnosis.
But plenty of observers feel that Trump might still be infectious.
We still don’t know when he lasted tested negative, and Washington is full of gossip and rumour about the President’s illness and real condition.
Inevitably, whenever there is a lack of transparency, the void will be filled with conspiracy theories.
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The President is hoping to hold a rally in Pennsylvania or Florida on Saturday night.
No doubt the loyalists will be there - especially if it is held outdoors - but it is likely to be another wildly controversial occasion.
But something else is brewing - certain to deepen the bitter enmity between the President and the Speaker of the House.
On Friday, Nancy Pelosi is going to propose a tweak to the 25th Amendment. That’s the part of the Constitution that allows a President to be removed from office under certain circumstances.
Section Four allows the Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet to act to transfer power from the President if they judge he "is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office".
But the Speaker is suggesting that a special Congressional commission should be set up that would also have a role in deciding if the President is mentally impaired.
It follows Pelosi’s claim on Thursday that the President is suffering "disassociation from reality."
The implication is pretty stark - that Donald Trump is emotionally or mentally incapable of holding the presidency.
Plenty of Democrats - and some doctors too - are suggesting that perhaps the strong medication he is on - the Remdesivir and the Dexamethasone - are impairing his judgement.
In particular, they are pointing out that the side effects of Dexamethasone can include mood swings, insomnia and (according to the drug label) "frank psychotic manifestations."
It’s true that Trump’s tweets and comments over the last few days are erratic even by his standards.
And some of his comments are just distasteful and absurd, such as calling Senator Kamala Harris a monster and a communist.
Predictably, the President is firing back, accusing Pelosi of being crazy.
That’s where we are in these final weeks of the campaign - the president and the Speaker exchanging these bizarre barbs.
It should be added that there is no chance of Pelosi succeeding in changing the US constitution.
But it’s intended to rattle the President. This is psychological warfare and that tactic is likely to succeed.
Trump allies in Congress are accusing Pelosi of mounting a coup.
On Saturday we may see Trump properly for the first time for several weeks.
In recent days, all of his appearances have been via Tweeted videos choreographed by the White House.
We are in the final stretch of this campaign.
It was always going to be ugly. But no one could have anticipated that it would end like this.
And who says there aren’t more surprises in store?