Lincoln Project co-founder George Conway says Donald Trump shows nine symptoms of mental illness in new video

‘There is no need to probe the depths of someone’s soul to determine if they meet the criteria for a behavioural disorder’

In previously unseen footage, the husband of Kellyanne Conway unpacks the nine symptoms that he says show Donald Trump's mental instability.  

The walkthrough comes via unused footage from the recently released documentary #Unfit: The Psychology of Donald Trump.

George Conway, the "Never Trumper" co-founder of The Lincoln Project action committee aimed at preventing his re-election, is featured prominently in the film, in which he calls the president "evil", "racist" and "like a practical joke that got out of hand".

The documentary was filmed before Mr and Mrs Conway announced they would be stepping away from both the Lincoln Project and The White House to focus on family after their 15-year-old daughter said she would seek "emancipation" from the duelling parents.  

Going through the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM-5, Mr Conway attempts to line up the traits of narcissistic personality disorder with the president's behaviour.

"A pervasive pattern of grandiosity and fantasy or behaviour, need for admiration, and lack of empathy, as indicated by five or more of the following," Mr Conway says before reading off the list.

They include: grandiose sense of self-importance, fantasies of power and brilliance,  believes he is special or unique, requires excessive admiration, a sense of entitlement, is interpersonally exploitative, lacks empathy, is envious of others, and arrogant behaviours.

Mr Conway provides running commentary on some of the symptoms, pointing to Mr Trump's constant bragging, treatment of contractors in Atlantic City, alleged sexual assault, a continued obsession with John McCain, and arrogant statements.

"'I can shoot somebody on Fifth Avenue, I can grab them by the you-know-what'," Mr Conway said, in reference to some of the president's most infamous comments. "I mean nine for nine."

In #Unfit, a collection of psychiatrists and psychologists conclude that Mr Trump is suffering from a narcissistic personality disorder. The mental health of both the president and Joe Biden have taken on greater focus this election as they both advance in age towards their 80s.

Under the American Psychiatric Association's ethics annotation, known as the "Goldwater Rule", it is argued that it is unethical for a psychiatrist to offer a professional opinion of a person unless they have conducted an examination or granted authorisation. Others argue that Mr Trump is so well known through his public statements and behaviour over decades in the public eye that this rule does not apply.

As Mr Conway is an attorney, not a health professional, he's not bound by ethical or diagnostic constraints.

In sharing the unused footage of #Unfit with The Daily Beast, the director of the documentary, Dan Partland, told entertainment reporter Marlow Stern that the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders was written in plain English and could be easily understood by lay-people.

"The important thing to recognise about behavioural disorders is that they can be diagnosed through observation alone," Mr Partland said.

"There is no need to probe the depths of someone’s soul to determine if they meet the criteria for a behavioural disorder."