Arizona lawmaker wants state to study ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’

Every year since she took office, Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs has swatted down some of the goofiest bills you’ve ever seen. Arizona Republicans have sent her bills to make it harder to vote, bills to police kids’ private parts, bills to make you show ID to watch porn — OK, that last one slipped through and became law.

If it’s a contest on who can tee up the wackiest bill for a veto, Surprise state Sen. Janae Shamp might be going for gold. In a bill filed Monday ahead of the 2026 legislative session, Shamp has proposed that Arizona’s government undertake a study of “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” a phrase that has become popular among Republicans to describe negative sentiments toward President Donald Trump.

Shamp’s Senate Bill 1070 — not the most infamous bill by that name, which it shares with Arizona’s notorious “show me your papers” law — would direct the Arizona Department of Health Services to conduct or support research to “advance the understanding of Trump Derangement Syndrome, including its origins, manifestations and long-term effects on individuals, communities and public discourse.” It also directs the department to identify early documented cases and analyze factors like political polarization. The department would have a year to present its findings or provide an update.

Trump Derangement Syndrome, of course, is about as real an ailment as Saturday Night Fever. It’s not a recognized mental health condition, just something MAGA made up to dismiss anything critical of Trump. Will Humble, the executive director of the nonprofit Arizona Public Health Association and a former DHS director, thinks Shamp’s bill amounts to political posturing and, if passed, a giant waste of time.

“It’s a statement bill, obviously,” Humble told Phoenix New Times in a phone call. “You give them an assignment like this, which is a big old time suck for no useful outcome? Basically, they ought to change the title to the ‘Creating Bureaucracy Bill’ or something. It gives the health department a bunch of busy work that doesn’t improve anything.”

Magda Rodriguez, a media relations coordinator for the Department of Health Services, declined to comment on the proposed legislation. Shamp did not respond to a request for comment.

The bill’s definition of “Trump Derangement Syndrome” is amusingly — and perhaps unintentionally — broad. Shamp’s bill defines so-called TDS as “a behavioral or psychological phenomenon that is characterized by intense emotional or psychological reactions to Donald Trump, his actions or his public presence as observed in individuals or groups.”

According to that definition, it appears that “Trump Derangement Syndrome” could also be applied to the intense adoration and worship of Trump that Republicans often exhibit. Perhaps right-wingers like Shamp and Wendy Rogers, who often fawn over Trump, should be in padded cells.

“If they end up writing the report, I don’t know how you could not do that part of it too,” Humble said with a laugh.

The idea of clinicalizing political opinions is, of course, a completely bonkers, off-the-rocker level of insanity. More seriously, it’s dangerous for the government to be getting involved in such a decision. Shamp should know better. She is a registered nurse, according to her campaign website — the centerpiece of which is, ironically, a picture of her with Trump.

“There is no diagnosis and no diagnostic code for these words,” Humble said. “So you’re supposed to write a report about something that has no data collection behind it, no criteria or standards about what it actually means from a medical or psychological point of view? And you want your health department with limited resources to spin its wheels and waste its time on something like this?”

With Hobbs in office, Shamp’s bill is destined to die at the governor’s desk, if it even makes it that far. But remove Hobbs from the equation — as Republican challengers Karrin Taylor Robson, David Schweikert and Andy Biggs hope to do next November — and cuckoo-bananas bills like this could become law.