Why everybody's talking about the 25th amendment

Name: The 25th amendment to the US constitution.

Age: 50.

Appearance: Seven paragraphs of justified type with lots of white space, some fancy titles and a nice red border. The amendment itself is just 400 words long.

I can’t read all that. Give me a 50-word summary. It states the vice-president becomes president if the president dies, explains how the president should replace a vice-president or cede power temporarily to the vice-president, and gives the vice-president and the cabinet the power to remove a president who is unable to do the job.

That sounds important. It is. The original constitution was a bit vague and kept causing problems when presidents or vice-presidents died or got ill. Congress finally amended it after President Kennedy was killed, and the rules have been used several times since: when Nixon resigned, Reagan was shot, and various people had surgery.

I see. And now, for some reason, the 25th amendment is trendy again? That’s right. Some think that President Trump is behaving a tad oddly.

He was never exactly the sort of strong and stable leader that Britain is so lucky to have. No, indeed. But he spent most of last week in a Twitter feud with the media, and ultimately posted a gif of himself pretending to beat up a CNN logo with a human body.

Is that grounds for impeachment? I’d say it was just childish. Trump prefers “MODERN DAY PRESIDENTIAL”.

Either way, it’s standard behaviour on Twitter. I suppose. But thousands of people began tweeting #twentyfifthamendmentnow shortly afterwards, demanding that he be removed from office.

That’s standard behaviour on Twitter too. I can’t see Mike Pence and the cabinet being suddenly convinced. No, although there is an attempt under way to clarify how a president could be declared medically unfit. Jamie Raskin, a Democratic congressman, is planning to introduce a bill to establish an oversight commission on presidential capacity.

Just in case the US ends up with an unstable president at some point in the future? That’s right. Just in case.

Do tweet: “Those losers in Congress say I’m a danger to myself and others. Sad!”

Don’t tweet: “Covfefe.”