House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) new book claims she spoke with a doctor who indicated then-President Donald Trump "was in decline."
The Guardian, which obtained an early copy of Pelosi's new book, describes a 2019 memorial service for prominent psychiatrist Dr. David Hamburg, where many other mental health experts were on hand.
A succession of experts attending the funeral told Pelosi they felt “deeply concerned that there was something seriously wrong” with Trump, “and that his mental and psychological health was in decline," the book said.
Read also: Beyond Trump: The real action in Milwaukee won't be the show — but in the back rooms
“I’m not a doctor,” the ex-speaker writes, "but I did find his behaviors difficult to understand."
She explained that she didn't solicit comments about Trump's mental capacity and fitness. At other points in the book, The Guardian said Pelosi called Trump “imbalanced” and “unhinged."
“I knew Donald Trump’s mental imbalance. I had seen it up close," Pelosi also writes of Trump when talking about Jan. 6, 2021. "His denial and then delays when the Covid pandemic struck, his penchant for repeatedly stomping out of meetings, his foul mouth, his pounding on tables, his temper tantrums, his disrespect for our nation’s patriots, and his total separation from reality and actual events. His repeated, ridiculous insistence that he was the greatest of all time.”
Former Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), who became Trump's chief of staff, is described as allowing Trump's behavior by letting him “surreptitiously listen” to private meetings. She ultimately banned cell phones from meetings in her office.
At another point in the book, Pelosi talks about Trump calling her very late at night. On one evening, Trump blamed missile strikes he'd ordered on Syria on former President Barack Obama.
“It’s midnight. I think you should go to sleep," Pelosi remembers telling Trump.
When writing about Jan. 6, she said she often asked how she remained calm.
“My answer is that I was already deeply aware of how dangerous Donald Trump was," said Pelosi.
“He continues to be dangerous," she continued. "If his family and staff truly understood his disregard for both the fundamentals of the law and for basic rules, and if they had reckoned with his personal instability over not winning the [2020] election, they should have staged an intervention. Whether because of willful blindness, money, prestige, or greed, they didn’t – and America has paid a steep price.”
“It was clear to me from the start that he was an imposter – and that on some level, he knew it," she also said.
“Following January 6,” she recalled, “the Democratic leadership discussed asking the vice-president to invoke the 25th amendment to the constitution, which allows for the vice-president and a majority of cabinet members to certify that a president is unable to discharge the duties of the office.”
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called Vice President Mike Pence about the possibility.
“The vice-president’s office kept us on hold for 20 minutes,” Pelosi said. She was at home at the time, “so I could also empty the dishwasher and put in a load of laundry."
Authors Peter Baker and Susan Glasser wrote in their 2022 book that senior administration officials also had serious concerns about Trump's mental fitness almost immediately after seeing him on the job. Cabinet officials held tentative discussions "within months" of his taking office to consider invoking the constitutional mechanism for replacing him.
Trump and other Republicans have spent the past year alleging that President Joe Biden is in mental decline and incapable of being president. The 81-year-old would have been the oldest president in American history. Upon exiting the race, however, Trump now becomes the oldest presidential candidate in history.
The Art of Power: My Story as America’s First Woman Speaker of the House is set to be released by Simon and Schuster next week.
