Topics: Celebrity, Donald Trump, News, Politics, US News, Mental Health, Explained
United States President Donald Trump has threatened to deport Hollywood legend Robert De Niro over what he has dubbed 'Trump derangement syndrome' - but what exactly is it?
The 79-year-old Republican, as well as the Trump administration, have frequently labelled several celebrities and political figures with whom they don't agree as having 'Trump derangement syndrome' - or 'TDS' for short.
The latest to add to the list is, as we say, De Niro, following his recent appearance on Nicolle Wallace's The Best People podcast earlier this week (23 February).
During the podcast, the 82-year-old Taxi Driver star encouraged his fellow Americans to 'resist' the oppressive will of Trump officials, slamming Trump as 'an idiot'.
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"We gotta get rid of him," the Hollywood A-lister began. "He's gonna ruin the country. I don’t want everybody going around with their MAGA, the American flags, like they’re the only ones. We are Americans too."
De Niro's criticism of Trump didn't stop there as he went on to host a political event called the 'State of the Swamp' on Tuesday (24 February) - a play on words that referenced the State of the Union address that was delivered by Trump the same day.
Claiming to have felt a 'betrayal' by his country, The Godfather Part II actor told attendees: "It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it does need to return to the values that gave us our strength and humanity.
"If you want our leaders to be accountable, if you’re devoted to the constitution and the rule of law, if you want the United States of America to be worthy of your love, be ready to take to the streets together, and we will take our country back."
Trump swiftly flocked to Truth Social to post a scathing rant about De Niro, as well as Democratic politicians Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib and Rosie O'Donnell, with whom he has a very public feud.
His outburst, posted yesterday (25 February), began: "When you watch Low IQ Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, as they screamed uncontrollably last night at the very elegant State of the Union, such an important and beautiful event, they had the bulging, bloodshot eyes of crazy people, LUNATICS, mentally deranged and sick who, frankly, look like they should be institutionalised," Trump hit out, taking aim at the politicians.
He continued: "When people can behave like that, and knowing that they are Crooked and Corrupt Politicians, so bad for our Country, we should send them back from where they came - as fast as possible.
"They can only damage the United States of America, they can do nothing to help it."
Turning his attention to De Niro, Trump suggested: "They should actually get on a boat with Trump Deranged Robert De Niro, another sick and demented person with, I believe, an extremely Low IQ, who has absolutely no idea what he is doing or saying — some of which is seriously CRIMINAL!"
Both Tlaib and De Niro were born in the United States, whilst Omar has lived in America since 1995, after first moving from Somalia.
Trump's rant continued: "When I watched him break down in tears last night, much like a child would do, I realised that he may be even sicker than Crazy Rosie O’Donnell, who is right now in Ireland trying to figure out how to come back into our beautiful United States."
"The only difference between De Niro and Rosie is that she is probably somewhat smarter than him, which isn’t saying much," Trump went on.
"The good news is that America is now Bigger, Better, Richer, and Stronger than ever before, and it’s driving them absolutely crazy!"
He signed off: "PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP."
As we say, the term 'Trump derangement syndrome' has been thrown around a lot by Trump and the MAGA crowd.
MAGA fans' favourite 'psychiatrist', Dr Carole Lieberman, spoke to the Daily Mail last year, where she described TDS as a 'legitimate psychological phenomenon', adding: "The symptoms mirror mass psychosis, where people lose all rational thinking when it comes to Trump."
"TDS causes otherwise logical individuals to become obsessive, paranoid, and even violent at the mere mention of Trump’s name," Lieberman continued. "This level of emotional instability has real-world consequences."
Other mental health experts, however, have a completely different take.
"TDS is political slang - not a diagnosis listed in the DSM-5 or any other clinical manual," therapist Brad Brenner, Ph.D explained on Therapy Group DC. "Supporters of President Donald Trump coined it as a rhetorical jab, claiming critics and political opponents are so blinded by dislike that they can’t perceive reality."
Brenner continued: "The label discredits rather than describes, and its very existence shows how political language can blur the line between clinical insight and partisan insult."
The expert went on to point out that TDS insults demonstrate 'how politics can hijack both mental health and the language we use to discuss it'.
"Stirring powerful emotions that affect even otherwise non-partisan people," he added. "And underscores why the grounding strategies we cover next are so important for safeguarding our minds, relationships, and civic dialogue."
The term serves as a means of stigmatising Trump's opponents, coming for their person as well as their politics, with some Republicans seemingly convinced that the two are mutually exclusive.
"Over the past several decades, public conversation about mental health has generally moved toward respectful, stigma-free language," Brenner continued. "Terms like 'crazy' or 'lunatic' are fading from serious discourse.
"That’s why labels such as 'Trump derangement ayndrome' feel like back-sliding: they revive the old habit of using mental-health language as an insult."
