Of course, President Donald Trump doubled down on his tasteless social media post about murdered Hollywood director Rob Reiner.
Trump never second-guesses himself, no matter how heinous his actions or words.
He’s played this game for years, wielding insults and the consequent outrage as a tool of power that solidifies his outsider status and seeds new feuds — which his supporters adore — against political and media elites.
So the question arising from his diatribes about the “When Harry Met Sally” director is not whether they are grossly offensive. They are. Nor is the fallout likely to destroy Trump politically. Outlandish behavior has never brought him down. And his compulsion to make the tragedy all about himself by declaring Reiner died because of anger he stirred over “Trump Derangement Syndrome” will surprise no one.
But Trump’s latest assault on decency came at an unprecedented moment in his political story. He’s suffered unheard of revolts from Republicans: in Indiana over his midterm redistricting drive; in the House of Representatives over the Epstein files. He’s out of touch with voters over high prices for groceries, health care and housing. Trump’s approval ratings have also crashed. And some Republicans are envisioning a future freed from all the baggage their president brings.
Maybe his disdain for Reiner, a vocal Trump critic and Democratic fundraiser, was another one of his frequent attempts at deflection. Perhaps it was just an outlet for his ever-boiling lust for vengeance, even against deceased adversaries. (He accused Reiner of being one of the instigators of the Russia controversy during his first term.)
Trump’s first outburst on Truth Social was so offensive, it was necessary to check it was real, and not the work of some AI imposter. But his refusal to repudiate his sentiments later in the Oval Office was a window into his current mood, his diminished political state and his deteriorating public conduct after recently calling a female reporter “piggy.”
History suggests that Trump will ride out the controversy over Reiner, who was found dead along with his wife Michele Singer Reiner at their Brentwood, California, home on Sunday. Many MAGA supporters in the social media swamp Monday seemed to regard his comments as truth-telling and a mark of authenticity.
But this uproar could underscore Trump’s lost connection with most of the country. It reinforces a sense that he remains obsessed with his own grievances rather than focused on working for all Americans.
Anyone in a position of authority in business or the media who’d publicly lambasted Reiner hours after his death would probably have been fired. Trump has no such worries. But ahead of midterm elections next year, Americans may begin to balk at a head of state who injects such poison into the public square ruling unchecked by his pliant party in Congress for a further two years after 2026.
These are grim times. Reiner’s horrific murder came on the same weekend as a campus shooting at Brown University and an antisemitic massacre in Australia. People are scared and demoralized. In such circumstances, presidents are counted upon to offer consolation, not political bile. Voters may look for an antidote in 2028.
Trump’s outbursts also undercut weeks of complaints by his supporters and conservative media about people who celebrated or politicized the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, as CNN’s Aaron Blake reported.
But there’s also a more sinister possibility teased out by his comments about Reiner. Across Washington, Trump is being regarded as a lame duck whose power is ebbing, like almost every other term-limited second-term president. But his behavior may be an omen that his eclipse will, as it was in 2020, be marked by abuses of power and acrimony rather than acceptance.
Trump’s power base in Washington has eroded, but not crumbled, as shown by a closing of ranks in the GOP last week over controversial strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats off Venezuela.
Still, there are members of the GOP now willing to condemn Trump.
“Regardless of how you felt about Rob Reiner, this is inappropriate and disrespectful discourse about a man who was just brutally murdered,” conservative Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie, a now-frequent Trump critic, wrote on X. “I guess my elected GOP colleagues, the VP, and White House staff will just ignore it because they’re afraid? I challenge anyone to defend it.”
Another MAGA dissident, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, wrote on X that the tragedy of the Reiners was “not about politics or political enemies” and that the proper response should be empathy. The Los Angeles Police Department said that the couple’s son Nick, who struggled with addiction and mental health issues, is “responsible” for their deaths.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz posted a generous tribute to Reiner on X. He told reporters later he was “grieving” for the Hollywood director’s family but that the president could “speak for himself.”
Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy is known for his turns of phrase. But he advised the president to speak less. “A wise man once said nothing. Why? Because he’s a wise man. President Trump should have said nothing,” Kennedy told CNN’s Manu Raju.
Several House members also criticized Trump. New York Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis said, “I don’t think it was a proper thing to say at this time. It was a tragedy, and I don’t think he should bring politics into it. It was unfortunate.”
But House Speaker Mike Johnson, who owed his swift rise from the backbenches to Trump, displayed a classic case of GOP fence-sitting. “I don’t do ongoing commentary about everything that’s said by everybody in government every day,” he said.
A decade ago, Trump caused similar revulsion with his slander of Republican Sen. John McCain, a true American hero who spent years in the infamous “Hanoi Hilton” prison during the Vietnam War. “He’s not a war hero,” Trump said. “I like people who weren’t captured.”
Trump’s success in riding out a controversy that might have ended anyone else’s presidential campaign became a symbol of how he’d changed the GOP and the laws of politics.
The Reiner episode shows Trump hasn’t changed. But it’s the latest data point in a growing test case over the tolerance of his party and the country for his antics.
