Op-Ed: Mr. President, Have You No Shame?

Mr. President, have you no shame? You don’t have to like Rob Reiner. You don’t have to agree with his politics. But when a man and his wife are murdered what you don’t do is score points.

Donald Trump crossed that line Monday morning, after the news broke that Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were found dead in their Brentwood home with their son arrested on suspicion of murder.

On Truth Social, Trump claimed Reiner died because of “TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME,” and suggested that Reiner’s criticism of him “reportedly” caused anger that led to the killings, writing: “… 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 Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before…” 

That’s not just disrespectful, it’s reckless. It’s cruelty for sport.

Mr. President, have you no shame? It’s despicable, it’s disgraceful, and so deeply disappointing you would sink so low — again.

There has been no indication this horrific crime was motivated by politics. Zero. Zip. None. Police have not said Rob Reiner’s opinions had anything to do with why he and Michele were killed. What we do know is grim enough: their son has been arrested on suspicion of murder, and detectives are working a homicide. 

When the president starts freelancing a motive, that’s not “commentary.” It’s a cheap shot. And that “Trump derangement syndrome” crap? Give me a break. We see it for what it is. It’s a smear.  It’s Trump turning an unimaginable tragedy into a cheap victory lap, and inviting the worst to do the same.

And yes, plenty of people noticed. The pushback wasn’t just from the left. Republicans and even some right-wing folks called it out, too. Because you don’t need to be a Reiner fan to see how f-kd up this is.

A husband and wife are dead. A family is destroyed. And the president’s first instinct is to mock the victim and blame him for his own murder? 

If Trump wanted to say nothing, he could have said nothing. If he wanted to offer sincere condolences, he could have done that. Instead, he chose to mock the dead, smear their motives, and imply they brought horrific violence onto themselves. The office of the President does not require you to be kind, but it does require you to act like a decent human being, if only after someone has been murdered.

And let’s get real here folks. The double standard is hard not to miss. When Charlie Kirk was murdered, Trump (and Trump-world) demanded respect, demanded sympathy, demanded that nobody “make jokes” about it. We heard talk about people being arrested, tried for treason; late-night hosts being “held accountable,” about broadcast licenses being stripped and regulators stepping in. 

Now Rob and Michele Reiner are dead, and the president turns his “TDS,” into a cheap shot. Even choosing to double down on his vile bile.

So which is it, Mr. President? Is it only sacred when the victim is on your team, and fair game when the victim isn’t? Where’s your demand for respect now? You’re oh so happy to wear Christianity like a cloak when it suits you; when the cameras are rolling, church talk, Bible talk, all of it. But when it’s time for the simplest moral test, you fail the test. Loudly.

What makes all of this even harder to swallow is the timing. It was the first day of Hanukkah. It’s the Christmas season. And it wasn’t happening in a vacuum. The country was already reeling from violence and grief, with the tragedies in Sydney and Rhode Island, all within the same brutal stretch of hours. Yet instead of showing even the smallest amount of restraint, let alone respect, he chose cruelty, to poke at a personal tragedy while a family is still in shock and grieving.

Mr. President, have you no shame? You are despicable. You are disgraceful. You are so deeply disappointing – again.