When Your Mouth Undoes Your Work

Trump's Truth Social post about the murder of Rob Reiner and his wife.

I voted for Donald Trump.

Not out of loyalty. Not because I think he’s the moral example America needs. I voted out of platform—and because, like a lot of conservatives, I looked at the alternatives and made a decision I could live with.

But I’m not going to pretend that means I have to clap for everything he does.

Because his recent response on Truth Social to the brutal deaths of Rob Reiner and his wife crossed a line that should be obvious to any decent human being, let alone the President of the United States.

This is the part where any normal leader should be able to do the simplest thing in the world:

Condemn the violence. Express condolences. Leave the personal grudges out of it.

Instead, Trump used the moment to take shots, lean into the “TDS” label, and frame the tragedy through the lens of his personal beef. It wasn’t just unnecessary. It was disgusting.

The hypocrisy is the point—and it’s also the problem

Here’s what makes it worse: Trump and many in conservative circles have rightly condemned hateful rhetoric when tragedy strikes “our side.” When Charlie Kirk was assassinated, there was a clear message: you don’t celebrate violence, you don’t exploit death, and you don’t use someone’s murder as an opportunity for cheap political points.

So what are we doing now?

If we’re going to say “don’t dance on graves” when it’s our side, we can’t turn around and do it when it’s the other side. And if we do, we shouldn’t act shocked when the country doesn’t take our “unity” talk seriously next time.

My bigger issue isn’t Trump—it’s the people around him

Look, I’m not naïve. Trump has always talked like this. He’s been Trump the whole time.

My great issue isn’t that Trump can talk out of both sides of his mouth.

It’s that there are people in his inner circle—staff, allies, “strategists,” elected officials—who continue to let him do it.

They refuse to tell him what any mature adult should tell the most powerful man in the world:

Be measured. For once. At least as much as you’re capable of.

And the silence is loud.

Because when the president says something vile, and the people closest to him shrug it off, you learn something: either they have no moral backbone, or they’re afraid, or they believe the base wants more of it.

And yes—many diehard followers will agree, justify it, and encourage more of it. Not because it’s right. But because it “owns the libs,” and apparently that’s enough to pass as virtue now.

“LDS”: Liberal Deranged Syndrome

Trump loves “TDS”—Trump Derangement Syndrome—as a label to dismiss critics.

Fine. If we’re inventing syndromes as a substitute for thinking, let me offer one back:

LDS: Liberal Derangement Syndrome.

It’s the thing where conservatives become so emotionally addicted to hating liberals (or hating progressives, or hating Atheists, or hating ________—you insert your own word) that they can’t even see act just like those they despise.

But here’s the catch: as satisfying as it is to throw that grenade…

Christians shouldn’t be in the business of trading syndromes like baseball cards.

Because name-calling is easy. Self-control is hard.

And that’s the point.

Biden in reverse

Biden, to many of us, looked useless—like a man fading in public while the country carried on without a pilot.

Trump is different.

Trump is active. He’s sharp. He’s working. He’s engaged. He’s not drifting—he’s driving.

But he’s also clouding over his own work with his mouth.

It’s like having a builder who actually knows how to swing a hammer… but keeps lighting the job site on fire every Friday.

Whatever good gets accomplished gets buried under another avoidable headline, another needless insult, another moment where America is reminded: “Oh yeah. This again.”

This hurts the Republican brand—and it hurts regular voters

Here’s the downstream damage nobody wants to admit.

Because Trump is Trump, the other side assumes anyone who voted for him is a MAGA loyalist—even when you’re not.

I wanted DeSantis. I didn’t get him.

I want America to be strong, stable, safe, and sane again. I want that badly.

But I do not believe Trump is required for that to happen. In fact, at this point, he may be hurting the cause more than helping it, because he’s making it harder for normal conservatives to argue policy when the public is distracted by personality.

And every time he does something like this, he sets the party back, not because Democrats are powerful, but because Republicans keep stepping on the rake.

Moral repugnance doesn’t cancel moral hopes

Let me say something clearly, because this is where people love to shove you into a tribe.

What Trump said was morally repugnant. Full stop.

But that doesn’t mean I’m now rooting against everything he does as president. I can condemn his words and still hope, and pray, that he continues to do and act on measures that are near and dear to my heart: protecting life, strengthening families, securing the border, defending religious liberty, pushing back against ideological extremism, appointing judges with a respect for the Constitution, and restoring sanity where sanity has been missing.

In other words: I don’t have to endorse the man’s mouth to want the nation to benefit from wise policies.

And I think this is one of the differences between me and a segment of Trump voters. As much as there is “TDS” out there, there’s also a kind of cult following—a reflexive loyalty that insists Trump can’t do or say anything wrong because “the other side” has done just as bad to him. So his supporters treat every ugly moment as justified retaliation. Fighting fire with fire becomes the default. The ends justify the means.

But that’s exactly where the Christian worldview has to separate itself from politics.

Because Christians don’t get to define morality by the behavior of our opponents.

We don’t get to excuse sin because the other side sinned first.

We don’t get to baptize cruelty as “strength” just because it feels satisfying.

Yes, politics is conflict. Yes, the stakes are real. Yes, people lie, mock, and smear.

But “fighting fire with fire” only works for Christians if the fire we bring is in line with the moral prerogative Christ modeled for us—truth without malice, conviction without contempt, courage without corruption.

Nothing more. Nothing less.

A Christian word: Don’t look to Trump for how to treat enemies

As Christians, our standard isn’t “what gets the best clap.”

It’s Christ.

And whatever you think of Rob Reiner politically, he was a human being. A husband. A father. A man made in the image of God—who died brutally.

Trump didn’t need to pretend he liked him. He didn’t need to praise his activism. He didn’t need to compromise policy.

He needed to do one thing: shut up and show basic dignity.

This is where Scripture keeps getting ignored because it’s inconvenient:

• “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.” (James 1:19)

• “When words are many, sin is not absent.” (Proverbs 10:19)

• “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths…” (Ephesians 4:29)

• “The fruit of the Spirit is… self-control.” (Galatians 5:22–23)

Trump’s post didn’t reflect self-control. It reflected someone who acting childishly—someone who couldn’t resist twisting the knife even when the moment demanded restraint.

And if you’re a Christian who follows him like he’s the model, you’re going to learn the wrong lessons about power, speech, enemies, and integrity.

What he should have said

Here’s the response that would have helped the country—without betraying a single conservative conviction:

“This is a horrific tragedy. We pray for the family, and we condemn this violence. May God bring comfort to those grieving.”

That’s it.

No jabs. No “syndrome.” No ego. No cheap shot on a grave.

Just leadership.

And we didn’t get it.