Rep. Ruben Gallego (D., Ariz.) on Wednesday defended his tweet calling President Donald Trump a "psychopath" whom Americans will one day regret was ever born.
Gallego's description of the president came over the weekend after Trump lambasted the FBI for failing to recognize signals that the shooter at Marjory Stoneman High School last week was dangerous and for being overly focused on the Russia investigation.
The congressman responded to Trump's words by saying he is a "psychopath" for making the incident about himself.
You are such a psychopath that you have to make even the death of 17 children about you. America will regret the day you were ever born. https://t.co/5jyhVXRSRn
— Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) February 18, 2018
Gallego told CNN’s Brianna Keilar that he stands by his accusation because it is important to "shock" Americans and it alerted people to the abnormality of Trump's actions.
"I think it's very important for us to actually shock the American public, especially those that aren't paying attention to what this president is doing," Gallego said. "I think it is constructive in that sense that we're not dealing with a normal president."
Gallego added that the press and politicians in the past "would have started questioning the sanity of this president or whether he even is fit for office."
"We've all gone into the norm that the president can act how he is and we're supposed to accept it's normal," he said. "It's not normal. Everything the White House is doing is not normal and it is incumbent upon elected officials like me to try to get people to recognize that."
Gallego is not the only Democratic representative to have questioned Trump’s sanity. Rep. Jackie Speier (D., Calif.) is one of several Democrats who met with psychologists to assess whether Trump could be removed from office for mental unfitness.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D., Md.) received $1,000 from the 25th Amendment PAC and introduced legislation forming a commission to determine whether Trump is mentally fit for office. Rep. Maxine Waters (D., Calif.) said Trump should be impeached for being "unstable."
White House physician Dr. Ronny Jackson spoke at the White House press briefing in January following Trump's annual physical exam where he said Trump did "exceedingly well" on an assessment designed to screen for cognitive dysfunction. The president specifically requested a cognitive test be conducted in response to speculation from media and some Democratic opponents about his mental health.
Gallego, however, affirmed lawmakers are questioning Trump’s sanity.
"We all have questions about whether or not he's fit for office," he said. "What he did was beyond the pale, to take something as disgusting that just occurred to these young kids and then turn around and make it about himself. That's not normal."
"We need to be fighting on all fronts for people to realize that," he added.