Trump aide Kellyanne Conway denies president’s mental health is ‘getting worse’ after her husband voices concerns

George Conway suggests Trump has 'narcissistic personality disorder' after string of angry tweets

White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway on Monday dismissed concerns publicly voiced by her husband, lawyer George Conway, that President Donald Trump's mental condition is deteriorating and should be of concern to his Cabinet.

George Conway has been a persistent conservative critic of Mr Trump's policies and actions, frequently taking to Twitter to question whether the president is operating within the Constitution and other accepted boundaries. But Mr Conway's criticism recently has become more personal, as he questions the president's mental health and psychological state.

That included a series of tweets on Monday that included images from the American Psychiatric Association's "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders."

In addition to the manual's cover, Mr Conway highlighted pages that include diagnostic criteria for "narcissistic personality disorder" and "antisocial personality disorder."

His tweets followed a weekend in which Mr Trump took to Twitter several dozen times, airing grievances related to Saturday Night Live, decisions made by Fox News executives, the Russia investigation and John McCain, the late Republican senator from Arizona.

Last week, Mr Conway wrote on Twitter, "Whether or not impeachment is in order, a serious inquiry needs to be made about this man's condition of mind."

On Sunday night, he wrote: "His condition is getting worse."

And on Monday, Mr Conway said that "*all* Americans should be thinking seriously *now* about Trump's mental condition and psychological state, including and especially the media, Congress – and the Vice President and Cabinet."

Presented with her husband's concerns on Monday, Kellyanne Conway dismissed them.

"No, I don't share those concerns," she said, speaking to reporters on the White House driveway after having done an interview with Fox News from the North Lawn.

"I have four kids and I was getting them out of the house this morning to talk to the president about substance, so I may not be up to speed on all of them," Kellyanne Conway said, referring to her husband's tweets.

The Conways, who have been married since 2001, have publicly positioned themselves on opposite sides of issues related to the president with increasing frequency.

While Kellyanne Conway often appears on camera to defend Mr Trump, George Conway delivers his criticism through op-eds and social media.

He, for example, has argued against Mr Trump's assertion that special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation was "unconstitutional" and that Mr Trump exceeded his powers last year by installing Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general without consent of the Senate.

George Conway has also publicly accused Mr Trump of lying about payments made to former Playboy model Karen McDougal and adult-film star Stormy Daniels to buy their silence for alleged affairs.

And sometimes Mr Conway has needled Mr Trump for more mundane matters, such as his misspelling of "hamburgers" as "hamberders" in a tweet after a visit to the White House by the Clemson Tigers football team in January.

After Burger King poked fun at the president for his mistake, George Conway wrote in a searing tweet: "Think of how much of a laughingstock a president has to become to have *Burger King* make fun of him. Sad."

That prompted this reply on Twitter from Brad Parscale, manager of Mr Trump's re-election campaign: "Think how bad of a husband you have to be to act this way."

Mr Trump so far has been more restrained in his criticism.

He did, however, refer to George Conway as "Mr Kellyanne Conway" in an exchange with reporters in November after Mr Conway questioned Mr Whitaker's appointment.

"He's just trying to get publicity for himself," Mr Trump said. "Why don't you do this, why don't you ask Kellyanne that question, all right? She might know him better than me. I really don't know the guy."

The Washington Post