Even Republicans are starting to voice concerns about President Donald Trump’s mental state and physical well-being.
On Friday, former Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger posted a Substack essay and video detailing his concerns regarding the president’s mental acuity. Kinzinger is also an Air National Guard veteran and works as a commentator for CNN.
“You don’t know anymore what’s an act, what’s real. But I mean, it feels like he’s even descended since the beginning of his term,” Kinzinger said in the video. “Three years left of this and that’s the question. So when he does hit a point where he’s completely out of it, would there be anybody that had the courage to do the 25th amendment? So you may ultimately end up with a Weekend at Bernie’s president.”
In the 1989 black comedy Weekend at Bernie’s, two young office workers discover their boss Bernie is dead after arriving at his beach house and spend the weekend pretending he’s alive to avoid being implicated in his death.
The 25th amendment affords the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet the power to declare the president unfit if he is no longer able to perform his duties.
“I just think it’s something we need to look at, consider, and think about, having an insane president—I think we have an insane president—but having an insane president that actually can’t think because he’s lost it," Kinzinger continued.
The White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment.
In recent months, Trump has demonstrated memory problems, mixing up the names of people, places, and aircraft, sharing factually inaccurate stories, and failing to recognize people he knows, including world leaders—even when they’re sitting right in front of him.
Kinzinger, who was an Illinois representative from 2011 to 2023, and a vocal skeptic of Trump’s claims of election fraud, didn’t seek re-election in 2022. In his essay, he urged Americans to be aware of “powerful advisers” attempting to “pursue their own agendas” instead of ensuring we have a president who is fully cognitively available.
“Stephen Miller drives the crackdown on immigrants and the push to use the National Guard,” he wrote. “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is leading the assault on public health. Russell Vought is overseeing the mass firing of thousands of federal workers.”
“The truth is, what Donald Trump says matters less than what those behind him do,” he added. “And that may be the most dangerous reality of all.”
Kinzinger questioned what it would mean for the country if the president were “in visible decline,” answering his own question by saying the public “must watch carefully and hope those around him are competent.”
He also credited the recent peace efforts between Israel and Hamas to “skilled negotiators from the U.S. and abroad,” alleging that “Trump played a ceremonial role,” despite his boasting about the peace deal.
“A similar pattern is unfolding domestically, where powerful advisers pursue their own agendas,” Kinzinger wrote.
Recently, Trump revealed his fears that when he dies, he won’t make it to heaven, stating “I don’t think there’s anything [that’s] going to get me in heaven.” This conclusion came less than two months after Trump lamented that he wants “to try and get to heaven, if possible.”
Kinzinger claimed that these comments are proof that Trump is “worried” about his own death. “These references to heaven… suggest an awareness of his own fragility,” he said.
“He’s also begun warning that one day he’ll fall down—the same kind of stumble he once mocked Biden for,” Kinzinger added.
The White House, however, claims that a medical check-up in October showed that Trump “continues to demonstrate excellent overall health.” The president has run with this narrative, telling reporters that his doctor’s appointment was in fact a “semi-annual physical,” despite MSNBC’s Chris Hayes pointing out that Trump had his annual check-up in April.
Kinzinger also pointed out that Trump has been showing “visible signs of age-related circulatory issues known as venous insufficiency, which causes swelling in the ankles and bruising on the hands.” In July, the White House revealed that Trump has chronic venous insufficiency, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claiming that it is a “benign and common condition.”
Before and after that announcement, Trump’s cankles have been spotted in plenty of photo ops on full display, and he has been caught using makeup to cover bruises on his hands on multiple occasions.
Kinzinger has gone toe-to-toe with the president before, serving as one of two minority members on the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.
