Trump’s Response to Tragedy Shows How Moral Decay Spreads in American Politics
America’s political culture is rotting from the top down, as evidenced by our response to tragedy. When Charlie Kirk was killed, the reactions revealed not just partisan divides but a deeper erosion of empathy and civic norms.
I was called out after Kirk’s murder because someone close to me felt I had cheered his death in a Facebook post. I assured them that I oppose all senseless gun deaths and hoped that the shooter would be found and punished. But I also reiterated the point of my post; it was hard to feel compassion for someone who had made light of the brutal attack on Nancy Pelosi's 82-year-old husband. While Kirk did not deserve to die, his murder did not qualify him for sainthood.
Some on the left did dance on Kirk's grave, going beyond condemning his hateful speech to celebrating his murder. MAGA-world sought retribution for what they considered offensive speech with targeted attacks. Claiming that the Republican Party does not "believe in political violence" but does "believe in civility," Vice President J.D. Vance urged his followers to call out those who celebrated the death of Kirk, saying, "Hell, call their employer."
Vance's belief in civility was nowhere to be found following the murder of cultural icon Rob Reiner. The Vice President was ready to hunt down every teacher, firefighter, and member of the military who disparaged Charlie Kirk’s hateful legacy, but was completely silent after the President of the United States tied Reiner’s murder to his own fragile ego:
Given the chance to walk back these words, Trump, instead, piled on:
“I wasn't a fan of his at all. He was a deranged person as far as Trump is concerned.”
- Donald Trump
While most people would instinctively offer sympathy to the grieving family of two parents killed, allegedly by their mentally ill son, Trump instead fixated on the fact that Reiner had opposed him and his policies. Referring to himself narcissistically in the third person, the President placed himself at the center of someone else’s family tragedy.
If one of a leader’s responsibilities is to help pull people together in times of tragedy, Trump’s comments underscore why historians consistently rank him at or near the bottom of U.S. Presidents. Rob Reiner was an icon of American culture, and his loss is felt by many. The son of Carl Reiner, himself a towering figure in American comedy, Rob Reiner first entered the national spotlight as Michael “Meathead” Stivic on the groundbreaking sitcom All in the Family. Beginning with This Is Spinal Tap in 1984 (one of my favorite movies) and continuing through 1992, he directed an extraordinary run of culturally significant films, including Stand By Me (1986), The Princess Bride (1987), When Harry Met Sally… (1989), Misery (1990), and A Few Good Men (1992).
Unable to handle the truth that the majority of Americans do not approve of his job performance, Trump constantly attacks people like Reiner who publicly state their criticisms of his actions. Given the tragedy, it was time to put his personal feelings aside and put the country first. It would have been easy to simply mark Reiner’s significant accomplishments. At the very least, he could have followed every mother’s adage: “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” Instead, he verbally attacked a man as his family dealt with the unbelievable grief of the sudden loss.
Trump has long shown an inability to put aside feuds with people who have died. John McCain was a war hero who suffered lifelong injuries during his service to the country, but a year after his death, Trump was attacking him with the false claim that he graduated “last in his class” from the Naval Academy. The day after Colin Powell died, from COVID-19 complications, Trump noted that the country’s first Black Secretary of State had “made plenty of mistakes, but anyway, may he rest in peace!” He refused to pay his respects to Civil Rights hero John Lewis as he lay in state at the U.S. Capitol in 2020.
Following the lead of Trump, others in the MAGAsphere feel emboldened to cast aside social norms, degrading the political health of our country. In the aftermath of Kirk’s killing, members of Turning Point USA, the organization he founded, should understand better than anyone that careless words can feel like salt in a wound. Still, they followed Steve Bannon’s lead and booed Reiner at an event last week. After belittling Reiner’s impressive body of work as “a handful of crappy movies,” Bannon showed how much the rot has taken root in our country:
“Dude, you raised a kid that slit your throat. I'm just saying.”
- Steve Bannon
Proving once again that every accusation is a confession, Trump unveiled a plaque this week under a portrait of Obama that refers to him “as one of the most divisive political figures in American history.” With slightly more than three years left in Trump’s presidency, there is still a lot of room for him to expand our political divisions. Portions of the White House have already fallen. Will the country follow?
Recognized as “a valiant fighter for public schools,” Carl Petersen is a former Green Party candidate for the LAUSD School Board. Shaped by raising two daughters with severe autism, he is a passionate voice for special education. Recently, he relocated to the State of Washington to embrace the role of “Poppy” to two grandsons. Explore more at TheDifrntDrmr.