Over the weekend, President Donald Trump alarmed military experts and fellow Republicans when he announced that he’d back a Turkish military operation in Syria. He then pivoted, claiming that he wouldn’t let Turkey go too far. As usual, the president announced the major policy shift via Twitter.
As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I’ve done before!). They must, with Europe and others, watch over…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2019
In response, well-known Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert wondered if it was time for mental health professionals to intervene.
“Am I the only psychologist who finds this claim and this threat truly alarming?” he wrote. “Wouldn’t these normally trigger a mental health hold? Right and Left must set aside politics and agree that there is a serious problem here.”
Am I the only psychologist who finds this claim and this threat truly alarming? Wouldn’t these normally trigger a mental health hold? Right and Left must set aside politics and agree that there is a serious problem here. https://t.co/1JJvznG1oU
— Daniel Gilbert (@DanTGilbert) October 7, 2019