Donald Trump has come under increased scrutiny in recent weeks, with some suggesting that he’s not quite up to the job as president. Some passages in Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury, a firsthand account of Trump’s first year in the White House, for example, go so far as to suggest that Trump is losing his mental grip, exhibiting signs of dementia. Trump took to Twitter last weekend to not-so-convincingly convince the American people that he is all kinds of smart and stable. Being smart and stable are usually things that are self-evident and don’t require a declaration of such, but hey, we’re living in a bizarre new world here.
….Actually, throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart. Crooked Hillary Clinton also played these cards very hard and, as everyone knows, went down in flames. I went from VERY successful businessman, to top T.V. Star…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018
….to President of the United States (on my first try). I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius….and a very stable genius at that!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018
While that didn’t assuage, like, anybody’s fears or concerns, it did introduce the phrase “very stable genius” into the vernacular. While it’s inspired all kinds of horse jokes on Twitter, it also inspired a member of Congress from Pennsylvania to write a bill that’s productive, concerned with the safety and well-being of the United States, and which completely and epically trolls the very stable genius himself.
On Tuesday, Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) introduced a bill called the Standardizing Testing and Accountability Before Large Elections Giving Electors Necessary Information for Unobstructed Selection Act. Yeah, that’s both a mouthful and sounds like a typical staid and specific government document. It’s not—check out the first letter of each word (except for “and” and “act”) and a secret phrase emerges. Yep, it spells out “STABLE GENIUS.” It’s literally the “STABLE GENIUS Act”!
The President believes he is a "stable genius." I do not. Today, I introduced the
Standardizing
Testing and
Accountability
Before
Large
ElectionsGiving
Electors
Necessary
Information for
Unobstructed
SelectionAct to ensure that Presidential candidates are fit to lead. pic.twitter.com/ZalCqySlo8
— Rep. Brendan Boyle (@CongBoyle) January 9, 2018
Incredibly smart and funny name aside, the bill is meaty and important. If it passed (which it won’t, because Trump’s Republicans control both houses of Congress and they need the stable genius’s signature on their wacky and destructive legislation), it would be the law for presidential candidates to undergo thorough medical and mental examinations to determine if they’re capable of being president, with the results made public.
“Before voting for the highest office in the land, Americans have a right to know whether an individual has the physical and mental fitness to serve as president of the United States,” Boyle said via a statement. “While it is necessary to take the current president’s concerning behavior seriously and I support legislation to address these ongoing concerns, I believe we must also be proactive and do all we can to ensure a situation like this does not arise again.”