Our friends on the right wing of the political spectrum make my stomach turn with laughable excuses for why some of them seemingly justify Donald Trump’s hideous statement on the stabbing murders of Rob and Michele Reiner.
Some of them have speculated that the left’s response to the assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk has given them justification to make crass comments out loud about the Reiners’ murder.
Let me be clear about something. Many GOP pols have criticized Trump’s response as being “callous,” “unpresidential,” “beyond the pale,” and “just plain wrong.” Some of the critics have been longtime MAGA supporters of Trump, such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene … who’s now on Trump’s sh** list of former friends turned foe.
I just will add this. The president of the United States should always exercise restraint and good judgment when deciding to comment on matters such as the murder of celebrities whose fame spans the globe. Rob Reiner was an acclaimed filmmaker, director, actor, producer and, yes, a political provocateur. He despised Trump and said so regularly.
That was his right, as guaranteed under the free speech clause in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Believe it not, the president of the United States, by virtue of his very title, really isn’t entitled to speak as openly as Trump frequently does about his political opponents. Sure, he can do so without being prosecuted. However, custom simply means that just because he can do something that he really shouldn’t do it.
Trump crossed an important line of demarcation with that ghastly message sent out over Truth Social. One critic of this blog suggested to me that someone on POTUS’s staff likely wrote it and published it. Well, it still went out over Trump’s name and Donald Trump has seized control of its message.
It just goes to show what kind of individual this nation has elected to its most revered public office.