Mentally ill ex-congressman Patrick Kennedy fretted on Friday that calling Donald Trump "crazy" does a disservice to those with mental deficiencies.
"Whether you’re a person who suffers, as I do, from a mental illness or addiction," Kennedy said, "we’re all in this as Americans, and we shouldn’t be putting one another down no matter what the difference amongst us is."
Kennedy, son of the late Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy, talked with CNN’s Poppy Harlow about his op-ed published Monday in the Washington Post, titled "Stop calling Trump ‘crazy.’ It demeans people with mental illness." In his article, Kennedy claimed that calling Donald Trump crazy is a disservice to those who suffer from mental illness, which includes the ex-congressman.
Harlow asked Kennedy to walk through his argument, saying, "You say do not use this word, no matter how much you may not like a candidate, no matter how much you might think what they say is preposterous, do not use the word crazy."
"I don’t know why we would want to join in that kind of attack, and I’ve never heard the word ‘crazy’ uttered with compassion. It’s just a demeaning word," Kennedy said.