Today in Politics, Bulletin 271. 12/15/25

… As Americans were waking up to the shocking news of the murder of beloved and acclaimed director and activist Rob Reiner and his wife Michele, Donald Trump reacted with perhaps the most vile and disgusting post of his life - and that is certainly saying something. Even a big chunk of his own supporters were upset and disappointed with it.

… People: “Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were killed by their son, Nick, according to multiple sources. On Sunday, Dec. 14, at about 3:30 PM, the LA Fire Dept was called to a home to provide medical aid. Upon arrival, they found a man, 78, and a woman, 68, dead. Sources confirm the victims were Rob and Michele. Nick has been charged with murder.”

… “Rob is a director, producer and actor whose career includes some of Hollywood’s most beloved films — from his 1984 directorial debut, This Is Spinal Tap, to Stand by Me (1986), The Princess Bride (1987), When Harry Met Sally... (1989), Misery (1990) and A Few Good Men (1992). He first became famous for his role as Mike on the Norman Lear TV sitcom All in the Family.”

… “Rob was born in the Bronx, NY, in 1947. His father was legendary comedian Carl Reiner and his mother was actress and singer Estelle Lebost. Rob and Michele met when Rob directed When Harry Met Sally, and the couple married in 1989 before having three children.”

… Trump: “Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS. He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Admin surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before.”

… Trump was asked about Reiner today in the Oval Office: “He was a deranged person. Trump Derangement Syndrome. I was not a fan. I thought he was very bad for our country.”

… Although Trump certainly had some supporters who were willing to sink down further into the muck with him by chiming in, the majority of social media posts across several platforms from MAGA people was negative - even the replies on Truth Social to his post. Here is some of the reaction:

… Conservative talk-show host Erick Erickson: “Just thinking about the President’s reaction to Reiner’s death - a relative last night told me he voted for Trump, he likes Trump’s policies, but he’s exhausted by Trump and embarrassed by the President’s behavior. He wished the President would just go off the grid for a while. Instead, we have Trump going off on the murder of Rob Reiner.”

… “The President is surrounded by an evangelical team that supposedly prays for him and over him. Never mind that his council of spiritual advisors is led by a heretic. There are lots of evangelicals around the man. But they all seem more concerned with what they can get from him and not at all concerned with the state of his soul and where he will spend eternity. Christians are called to be salt and light in the world and to speak truth to power. It does not seem any of the Christians around Trump are willing to do that, lest they lose access to the man.”

… “If we know Christians by their love, his behavior doesn’t seem reflective of the faith, and that goes with his statements that he’s never felt the need to repent of anything and his more recent statements that he doesn’t think there’s anything he can do to get into Heaven, which shows he does not understand the Gospel.”

… “God has placed some prominent evangelicals in Trump’s orbit, and they’re going to have to give a full accounting of why they did not do more than they did, because the whole project has descended into getting scraps from the table of power at the expense of the President’s soul.”

… Rep. Marge Greene (R-GA): “Rob Reiner and his wife were tragically killed at the hands of their own son, who reportedly had drug addiction and other issues, and their remaining children are left in serious mourning and heartbreak. This is a family tragedy, not about politics or political enemies. Many families deal with a family member with drug addiction and mental health issues. It’s incredibly difficult and should be met with empathy especially when it ends in murder.”

… Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY): “Regardless of how you felt about Rob Reiner, this is inappropriate and disrespectful discourse about a man who was just brutally murdered. I guess my elected GOP colleagues, the VP, and WH staff will just ignore it because they’re afraid? I challenge anyone to defend it.”

… Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE): “I’d expect to hear something like this from a drunk guy at a bar, not the President of the United States. Can the president be presidential?”

… Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY): “This statement is wrong. Regardless of one’s political views, no one should be subjected to violence, let alone at the hands of their own son. It’s a horrible tragedy that should engender sympathy and compassion from everyone in our country, period.”

… Right-wing talk show host Sage Steele: “This post is so disappointing. And so unnecessary. It’s comments like this that take away from the countless great things President Trump does for America.”

… Fox contributor and National Review Editor Andy McCarthy: “No words. I mean, ‘disgraceful,’ ‘appalling,’ ‘atrocious’ - those are words, but they don’t do it justice.”

… Long-time Conservative Broadcasting Network host David Brody: “This is so SAD to see from President Trump. This is NOT just, ‘Trump being Trump.’ It’s Trump being classless.”

(I’m really trying to resist the urge to chime in wondering why they are shocked by this, so I’m going to just let them talk).

… MAGA influencer Sasha Stone: “Someone who knows Trump please ask him to delete that Truth and offer up sincere condolences. It won’t make much of a difference on the Left but it would be good for his own side to see it.”

… Right-wing podcaster Matthew Marsden: “This is shitty.”

… Right-wing influencer Evan Kilgore: “How can the Right complain and cry about the evil celebration from the Left when Charlie Kirk was murdered, and then laugh when Trump mocks a Liberal Hollywood director for being stabbed to death? I can’t. MAGA is dead.”

… Russell Moore, editor of Christianity Today: “How this vile, disgusting, and immoral behavior has become normalized in the United States is something our descendants will study in school, to the shame of our generation.”

… Fox host ‘Kennedy’: “Disgusting, unnecessary and inappropriate.”

… I was curious, so I went to Truth Social to check the replies to Trump’s post. Keep in mind that the people on there are the most hardcore, militant supporters. When he talked about being able to shoot someone on 5th Ave and some people would still support him, these are the ones he is talking about. They were 80% negative - the only time I have ever seen that was when he took credit for the covid vaccine. (Which they believe is a bio-weapon). This was one of the replies:

… GingerGirl: “A man and his wife are dead. I appreciate his work and not his politics. To align their deaths with TDS only incites. Please show some humility, say you are sorry for your thoughtless words that undoubtably hurt his fans and loved ones. I know you are doing a great job and am guessing you didn’t write this post. Fire Susie Wiles, she gives horrible advice. Praying for you.”

… Of course, cultists being cultists, she blames Susie Wiles for his post.

… Also, Trump has never said he is sorry for anything in his entire life, he isn’t going to start with a Truth Social post trashing Rob Reiner.

… Maria Shriver: “I try to rise above the noise all the time, but this individual has no human decency. This goes beyond. It’s absolutely disgusting. We should all be horrified and disgusted by this inhumane behavior, because that’s what it is. Rob and Michele Reiner were good, kind, loving people. They were good human beings and good friends to me and countless others. Their family is in deep, unimaginable pain. What kind of human being would share a statement like this, much less a president? Rob and Michele would tell me to just ignore him, but I can’t. I just can’t. And I hope you don’t either. They deserve so much better, as does their family.”

… This was the post about it from ‘The New CBS’: “President Trump took to social media to disparage the political views of actor and director Rob Reiner a day after Reiner and his wife Michele were found dead in their LA home.”

… Trump just disparaged his political views. Nothing personal. Welcome to the New CBS.

… Pastor Darrell Scott with Trump’s White House Faith Council: “President Trump is not fake enough to eulogize (speak well of) his most virulent haters. He said what he said, and it is what it is.”

… Very Christian.

… Gavin Newsom to Meidas: “I was out there feeling a little alone doing same-sex marriage in 2004. It was Rob Reiner who reached out - it’s how I got to know him -saying he had my back at a time when a lot of members of my own party didn’t.”

… WaPo: “As Trump ate his crab cake lunch inside the WH last month, conservative Rasmussen pollster Mark Mitchell tried to explain that there was a disconnect between what the admin seemed to be focused on, and what Trump’s passionate base of supporters want to see. Mitchell warned Trump that many of his supporters believe he hasn’t ‘drained the swamp in DC, and suggested the president refocus with a plan to embrace ‘pragmatic economic populism.’”

… Mitchell told Trump: “Sir, you got shot at the Butler rally. You said, ‘Fight, fight, fight.’ But nobody ever clarified what that means. And right now, you’re fight-fight-fighting Marjorie Taylor Greene, and not actually fight-fight-fighting for Americans.”

… WaPo asked Mitchell how Trump responded: “To the extent to which we were talking about the economic populism message, he wasn’t as interested as I would have hoped.”

… “Mitchell’s critique echoes a growing chorus of faithful MAGA supporters who have begun raising concerns over what they see as Trump’s 2nd-term shortcomings. In recent weeks, pockets of the president’s base - well-known for its unwavering dedication to Trump and his MAGA agenda - have accused the president of focusing too much on foreign affairs, failing to address the cost of living issues he pledged to fix, aligning himself too closely with billionaires and tech moguls, and resisting the release of the Epstein files.”

… “Across the conservative spectrum, a steady drumbeat of commentators have warned that Trump’s coalition is weakened, and the party is headed for defeat in the midterm elections. There are concerns that the base won’t show up over frustrations that Trump hasn’t pursued the MAGA agenda aggressively enough. And others worry economic concerns could threaten his standing with the independent voters key in next year’s midterms.”

… Right-wing NewsNation host Batya Ungar-Sargon: “I hate the Trump Gold Card. I’m sorry—but I just don’t see how something as precious as American citizenship should be for sale to the highest bidder.”

… CNBC’s senior economics correspondent Steve Liesman: “Inflation is factoring heavily into consumers’ views on spending this holiday season. 61% say their income is lagging behind the cost of living. 68% say gift prices are higher this year, and 46% say they’re spending less because of the high cost of goods. That’s up 10 points from last year.”

… CNN pollster Harry Enten: “The number of people who say the economy is on the wrong track has skyrocketed up to 56%. The number who say it’s on the right track has fallen to 29%. The American people aren’t buying the spin that is coming out of the WH.”

… Fox host Maria Bartiromo tried to blame Biden, but guest Ro Khanna (D-CA) wasn’t having it: “The affordability crisis, higher health care costs, higher child care costs, higher food prices, because of tariffs. Trump’s China policy isn’t working. China has the biggest trade surplus in recent years. And our trade deficit, despite all the tariffs, is projected to be higher than in 2024. At some point, people have to look at the numbers.”

… Daily Mail: “Kash Patel is at the center of another embarrassing fiasco after the FBI released a person of interest detained over the mass shooting at Brown Univ. The FBI had wrongfully detained a 24-year-old Army sniper whose name and photo was leaked to the press. 48 hours later, the FBI is back at square one and Patel is under scrutiny over the botched arrest - which echoes his announcement of a short-lived suspect after Charlie Kirk‘s assassination in Sept.”

… “Patel bragged about how the FBI had used its advanced cell phone tracking technology to detain the suspect at a hotel in RI, posting on X on Sunday. The soldier allegedly traveled with a firearm from WI, but just hours after his arrest it was announced he would be freed. Investigative experts warn that authorities must now start from scratch, reviewing all the evidence again after they were led to the wrong individual.”

… “Patel has earned the nickname ‘Keystone Kash’ - a reference to the bumbling Keystone Cops of slapstick film fame - because of his pattern of making premature announcements about the FBI’s successes. Most infamously, Patel announced on X just hours after Kirk’s killing that ‘the subject’ was in custody. But the individual was released just 2 hours later with no charges. It would be another 48 hours before cops captured the real suspect, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson.”

… “Patel again came under fire at the end of Oct after announcing that the FBI had thwarted a terror plot in MI. However, at the time not all of the suspects were in custody, local law enforcement lacked info and no charges had been filed. Critics warned that Patel’s cavalier announcement on X could have alerted suspect who were not yet in custody, allowing them to escape.”

… “Trump was dragged into the chaos over the weekend as his FBI director once again claimed a premature success. The president was left humiliated after announcing the capture, and was forced to clarify on Truth Social just hours later that ‘the suspect is NOT in custody’. Investigators are back at square one after their leads led to the wrong suspect.”

… Trump was asked for an update on the investigation today in the Oval Office since the suspect remains at-large: “You would really have to ask the school about that because this was a school problem. They had their own guards, their own police, their own everything but you would have to ask that question to the school and not to the FBI.”

… Aaron Fritscher, Chief of Staff or Rep. Don Beyer, reacted to a clip of Trump’s statement: “If you watch carefully you can see the specific instant when Trump decides to try to shift blame for the failure to catch the perpetrator of the Brown Univ. shooting from Kash Patel and the FBI - who claimed credit for catching the wrong person yesterday - to the university.”

… I never expected his Reiner post to be the second most repulsive thing he said today, but here we are.

… Providence mayor Brett Smiley: “There was a tip that came in specifically identifying a person of interest, which was this individual. We get a lot of tips. But this specific one, it was actually picked up by the FBI and they followed through with it, and they ended up coming and locating this individual of interest.”

Sad day today with the Reiner news coming right after the shooting at Brown and the Bondi beach shooting in Australia. One millennial journalist posted today that Reiner’s political activism was fueled by social media, and I had to shake my head at that one. Those of us who are older remember Rob being politically active going back to the 1970s - and certainly his character in All In the Family was a combination of his voice as well as Norman Lear’s. We followed each other on social media for years and shared each other’s posts. He will be missed by millions around the world.

If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here. As always, thank you so much to everyone for reading, sharing and subscribing to my work.

… NY Times: Stephen Miller recently sold $50k-$100k in MP Materials stock after the Trump admin announced a deal supporting the rare-earth miner, sparking ethics concerns as the sale followed a govt decision boosting the company, whose stock price jumped, with reports highlighting potential conflicts given Miller’s role in policy