Rob Reiner kicks off debate on Donald Trump's mental health; Diagnosis: pathological liar

Not since Clint Eastwood gave his famous empty chair speech at the 2012 Republican National Convention and was diagnosed as senile by the social media collective has there been such a vigorous attempt to declare a public figure mentally ill.

There was talk of Will Ferrell starring as Ronald Reagan in a satire whose premise was based on the former president’s Alzheimer’s disease, but Ferrell pulled out of that project after impassioned criticism from Reagan family members who assured him the disease was no laughing matter.

Actor, filmmaker, Hillary Clinton fan and eternal meathead Rob Reiner is one of many who have diagnosed Donald Trump with mental illness, particularly after the GOP nominee claimed repeatedly to have seen Iranian-shot video of money being offloaded from an airplane.

.@realDonaldTrump continues to display mental illness. Says he saw a video of cash being delivered to Iran. Didn't happen. Hallucinations?

— Rob Reiner (@robreiner) August 5, 2016

Most media reports insist the footage to which Trump was referring was shot in January and showed three Americans who had been released from Iran arriving in Geneva, although others assume he was referring to a documentary that aired on Iranian TV in February that does show what appears to be a pallet of cash.

Doc on #Iran TV, Feb15, shows pallets of cash, says this was just part of the "expensive price" to release Americans pic.twitter.com/ztTvER3tvT

— Hadi Nili (@HadiNili) August 4, 2016

What difference, at this point, does it make what Trump says he saw? But could we please stop the selective diagnosis of mental illness on party lines and call out all lies when we hear them? Was Clinton hallucinating when children handed her flowers and she mistook the gesture for sniper fire? She claims she just “misspoke.”

.@robreiner @Lawrence Many people with mental illness find these comments deeply troubling. I wrote for @CNN – https://t.co/KrdNpJo6Sl

— David M. Perry (@Lollardfish) August 5, 2016

David M. Perry, an associate professor of history at Dominican University in Illinois, is no fan of Trump, but argues that “characterizing his erratic temperament or understanding of the truth as a product of mental illness, then arguing he’s unfit to lead because of that mental illness, sends a terrible message to the millions of people with diagnosed psychiatric disabilities.”