A top psychiatrist has claimed there is "overwhelming" evidence that Donald Trump has dementia - and if he became president it would mean he would have to be "immediately removed from office".

The former president, the psychiatrist claims, does not only display normal signs of ageing such as forgetting names or words. Trump's mental health has been called into question because he struggles with "confusion about reality".

Dr Lance Dodes, supervising analyst emeritus of the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute and retired Harvard Medical School professor, recently said: "Unlike normal aging, which is characterised by forgetting names or words, Trump repeatedly shows something very different: confusion about reality." This was in reference to Trump confusing Barack Obama with Joe Biden.

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Suzanne Lachmann, New York psychologist has also said Trump would  'seemingly forget how the sentence began and invent something in the middle' (
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AFP via Getty Images)


As quoted in Duty to Warn, which describes itself as an association of mental health professionals concerned about Trump, Dodes continued: "If he were to become president he would have to be immediately removed from office via the 25th Amendment as dangerously unable to fulfill the responsibilities of office." He was citing the 1967 mechanism that means a president can be removed from office because of unfitness.

Suzanne Lachmann, a New York psychologist has also noted Trump would "seemingly forget how the sentence began and invent something in the middle" which would result in "an incomprehensible word salad". This behaviour is seen "frequently in patients who have dementia".

Experts have shared their observations about Trump (
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Adding to this, psychologist and former professor at Johns Hopkins University Medical School, John Gartner distinguished Biden from Trump. He said the current president's forgetfulness is much more of a natural a sign of his age, while Trump is "showing unmistakable signs strongly suggesting dementia".

Mr Gartner wrote at the start of March that 77-year-old Trump showed "progressive deterioration in memory, thinking, ability to use language, behaviour, and both gross and fine motor skills". He continued, saying how he felt he had "an ethical obligation to warn the public, and urge the media to cover this national emergency".

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One psychologist said Biden's forgetfulness is much more a sign of his age, while Trump is 'showing unmistakable signs strongly suggesting dementia' (
Image:
AFP via Getty Images)

Senior advisor to the Trump campaign Jason Miller said to Newsweek: "Joe Biden is clearly suffering from cognitive decline and couldn't answer the first five questions of a cognitive test or any other test for that matter. President Trump has aced this test twice and is willing to take a third test if Joe Biden sits in the same room and takes it at the same time. In fact, President Trump believes all presidents should take the test."

The recent concerns about Trump come as Biden has also faced ongoing questions about his age and mental acuity from Republicans due to a number of public gaffes.

Biden, who will likely run against Trump in November, is already the oldest president in history at the age of 82, and he would be 86 by the end of his next term. But Biden has brushed off questions over his age, speaking to a news conference in February to say his "memory is fine" and "I know what the hell I'm doing".