Donald Trump

Rep. Brendan Boyle Introduces ‘STABLE GENIUS' Act Requiring Presidential Candidates Undergo Medical Exam and Share the Results

Calling President Donald Trump's behavior "erratic," Boyle said voters should know a candidate's level of health before they take office

Pennsylvania U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle introduced legislation on Tuesday that would require future presidential nominees to undergo a medical exam and have those results released to the public.

Under the Democrat's STABLE GENIUS Act proposal, major party nominees for president would submit to a medical examination by the Secretary of the Navy. The results would be filed with the Federal Election Commission and publicly accessible before that year's presidential election.

The bill's name is derived from President Donald Trump's personal assertions that he is "a very stable genius" and mentally fit to hold office. It's also an acronym for Standardizing Testing and Accountability Before Large Elections Giving Electors Necessary Information for Unobstructed Selection Act.

Boyle, who represents Pennsylvania's 13th congressional district covering parts of Northeast Philadelphia and Montgomery County, is a fierce Trump critic who regularly questions the president's ability to lead the country.

He said Trump's "reckless, erratic behavior has exposed a critical flaw in our existing election process."

"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.

"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."

A request for comment from the White House was not immediately returned.

During an interview with Fox & Friends on Friday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said its "absolutely outrageous" to question whether the president is mentally fit to hold office.

"It's absolutely outrageous to make these types of accusations and it's simply untrue, and it’s sad that people are going and making these desperate attempts to attack the president," she said. "What I think is really mentally unstable is people that don't see the positive impact that this president is having on the country."

Recently, the author of a controversial book about Trump administration claimed that Trump's staff openly discusses the 25th Amendment, which outlines the chain of succession should a president, among other things, be deemed unable to discharge the duties of the office.

"Everybody in this White House, and I keep saying 100-percent because it is 100 percent of the people closest to the president, to Donald Trump, believe that there is something wrong here, something fundamentally wrong, something that scares them," Michael Wolff, author of "Fire and Fury" said Monday on MSNBC's Morning Joe. "As a matter of fact, if there is any reason they stay in the White House now it’s because they are scared, they believe they have a responsibility to the American people."

During the 2016 presidential election, Trump and some Republicans questioned Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's physical fitness for the job. Clinton fell ill at an event at Ground Zero on Sept. 11, 2016 and needed to be helped into an SUV. She was later diagnosed with pneumonia.

Trump will undergo his yearly physical at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Friday.

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