Dec. 17, 2025, 11:05 a.m. ET
The legendary director Rob Reiner and his wife were brutally murdered in their home. Most directors would be lucky to have crafted just one film that shaped culture; Reiner made several, spanning genres and generations. One of my favorite pictures he directed was “Misery.” The film put actress Kathy Bates on the map and delivered a performance for the ages.
And yet, following such a tragedy, the President of the United States could only muster miserable, depraved “condolences.” Donald Trump took to Truth Social with one of his characteristic rants, pinning Reiner’s ultimate demise on his supposed “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” A pillar of American cinema falls, and Trump’s impulse is to attack.
Does this shock anyone? If it does at this point, I don’t know where you’ve been for the past decade of American politics. I am not writing this piece to nitpick Trump’s lack of civility. His decorum is what it is. And it is, in large part, how he amassed his cult of personality.
Two deaths, two standards
What bothers me is the inconsistency that now plagues the Republican Party he helms. Following the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the incumbent administration sought to silence anyone who spoke ill of him, or even those who merely quoted some of the podcaster’s more colorful commentary. When a political ally is brutally murdered, they are to be honored as if they were a former head of state, and expression is to be thwarted. When a political foe is brutally murdered, they are to be chastised, and the floodgates of vitriol are flung wide open.
Many political pundits and experts can dissect the Trump era in great detail, offering complex explanations for how we arrived at this point and why so many still identify with his brand. But one word neatly captures the Trump regime and has described many leaders before it: hypocrisy.
Hypocrisy is what drives Trump. And it has permitted the broader society to be inconsistent in its beliefs as well. Mercy for the rural farmer. Unadulterated hatred for the immigrant picker. Principles applied generously to friends and ruthlessly to enemies.
The layered onion of our political division is undoubtedly complex, but it is further mutated by this palpable hypocrisy. Believe what you believe, and believe it proudly, no matter where you find yourself on the political aisle. But for the love of the Republic, do so consistently − whether you are staring into the eyes of a partner or an enemy.
Otherwise, we will be a nation cast into a drowning misery of our own making.
Nick Anderson lives in Walnut Hills.
