A Republican bill seeking to define criticism of President Donald Trump as a mental illness has stirred up conflict at Minnesota's Capitol. 

Five Republican senators introduced a bill Monday that would designate “Trump Derangement Syndrome” as a mental illness.

It describes the “syndrome” as Trump-induced general hysteria and “the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal persons that is in reaction to the policies and presidencies of President Donald J. Trump.”

Democrats quickly criticized the bill as a waste of time and asked that it be withdrawn. Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy said its mere introduction trivializes serious mental health issues.

“This is possibly the worst bill in Minnesota history,” Murphy said in a statement. “If it is meant as a joke, it is a waste of staff time and taxpayer resources that trivializes serious mental health issues. If the authors are serious, it is an affront to free speech and an expression of a dangerous level of loyalty to an authoritarian president.”

Republican Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson said “members are free to do as they wish” when introducing bills.

While Johnson is not a cosponsor, he did not say whether leadership supports the bill. He described it as a “tongue-in-cheek”  measure written out of frustration.

“Senate Republicans have always supported mental health funding, trying to make sure that there are resources available for that,” Johnson said at an unrelated news conference Monday. “But I think what you're seeing in our committees has been really they've been railroading our committees by talking about Trump more than they have been talking about the deficit and the problems that we have here in the state of Minnesota.”

The bill’s sponsors are Sens. Eric Lucero of St. Michael, Steve Drazkowski of Mazeppa, Nathan Wesenberg of Little Falls, Justin Eichorn of Grand Rapids and Glenn Gruenhagen of Glencoe.

As of now, there is no House version.

Collected from Minnesota Public Radio News. View original source here.