Trump’s Cruel Response to Rob Reiner Family Tragedy | Bakari Sellers On CNN

Trump’s Cruel Response to Rob Reiner Family Tragedy | Bakari Sellers On CNN

All right, we’ve got a great group uh that are here. Let’s start with you. >> When it comes to that comment you just heard there, a wise man says nothing. It It’s that old adage, if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Is that what should have happened with President Trump? >> I was 9 10 11 years old where my grandfather of whom I’m named after, Arty Idala told taught me that lesson. Uh I I think I was being critical to about someone or something and he was like, “Hey Art, you know what? If you don’t have anything nice to say, just don’t say anything at all.” And I believe that’s what the president did when the vice president Dick Cheney died. I think he didn’t really acknowledge it whatsoever. [clears throat] And I think that would have been the wise choice here. And even if he did, if he couldn’t help himself but say something critical, you you have to say, “Look, I never liked Rob Rhino. We never got along. He was so overly critical of me. But what happened to him and his family was so horrific and so tragic that the nation should pray for them. >> Scott, why doesn’t the president rise to the occasion when it comes to these sorts of things? We see kind of over and over again his responses are often less than humane. >> Well, I agree with Arthur. I think he should have said nothing. Uh, look, I’m not surprised that Donald Trump didn’t have anything nice to say about Mr. Reiner. Reiner was one of his most vocal critics and did for you know basically a decade say he should be in prison called him a fascist etc etc but the correct answer here and the advice I would have given him is just put it in your pocket. Uh you you’re allowed to harbor opinions and feelings about people but in this particular case someone was tragically murdered. Uh look we just as conservatives we just rolled out of one of the most horrific things that have happened to our our movement which is the murder of Charlie Kirk. And I have been very critical of everybody who celebrated that murder, the thousands and thousands of liberals who celebrated that. They shouldn’t have done that either. And so, you know, in this particular case, um, putting it in your pocket would have been right. >> And the thing is, Rob Runner did not celebrate Charlie’s murder. Yeah. He [clears throat] condemned it very vocally. So, yes, on one hand, he’s raised he’s done more than just criticized Donald Trump. He’s raised millions and millions and millions of dollars to make sure Trump didn’t become president. However, when they when Charlie was executed, I mean, Rob Ryan came out forcefully and said, “I don’t care what anyone’s politics is, this should happen.” >> And I would suggest that the office of president of the United States comes with a higher bar uh and a certain duty. Um, and if he can’t exercise the duty, then just shut up. Keep your mouth shut and keep Rob Reiner’s uh name out of your mouth. Uh, particularly today. But what happened uh to that family is really an unspeakable tragedy. It’s so hard for me to wrap my arms around. And there are millions of American families who are dealing with children with mental illness and drug addiction. And as a family, my own family that has suffered from the consequences of drug addiction, I can tell you that the biggest fear of any parent, and they can be very good parents who don’t give up on their child and who love that child, but can’t save the child. No matter how many times you send them to rehab, no matter how many times you send them, no matter what pills you’re there, no m you sometimes you just can’t reach a kid. And the biggest terror of one of those parents is that that child will hurt themselves or hurt somebody else much less somebody uh in the family. So what is happening to this American family is tragic. and for Donald Trump to use the occasion, not to rise to the occasion, but to lower himself to a a a level that I can’t even imagine and attack Rob Reiner and say his death was caused by his criticism of Trump is is disgusting and condemnable and unacceptable. And I am glad that both of you are saying that it was the wrong thing to do because we cannot normalize this level of cruelty and stupidity >> by Donald Trump. >> But it is normalized and I think that the >> No, it’s not. But >> the maybe that is my youthful naive or maybe that is my my my pessimism that Donald Trump has bestowed upon this country. But he’s never risen to the level of the office when we have this moment. He’s never been there when the country needed him to bridge a gap or divide. I recall during the um Mother Emanuel shooting when uh uh Barack Obama sang Amazing Grace >> um how the country was just for even just the the pendency of that song was able to just talk about that issue of race and come together in a tone and tenor that hadn’t been done before. I remember George W. Bush uh after 911. I mean those type of tragic events, he was there. I mean I you you remember the ball game those type of things. Donald Trump doesn’t have that. tried. He tried at the Charlie Kirk memorial when he hugged his wife and he made some respectfully respectfully and I he tried [laughter] heir said that he wasn’t he disagreed with forgiving >> I will tell you the bar the bar for Donald Trump is in hell right [clears throat] that’s where our expectations are for him and for somebody to simply say that the president of the United States when somebody dies in the fashion that they did should just be quiet we need to all look at ourselves and say that is the standard that we poll for the president of the United States that this man that is 80 years old is incapable of actually having empathy. This man who’s 80 years old is incapable of being an example for our children regardless of Democrat or Republican. And the the the bigger condemnation I have is for those individuals who call themselves evangelical Christians who surround the president of the United States but then look at this type of nonsense and turn a blind eye to it. He has a prayer council. They lay hands on him with what? Gloves, mittens. I mean, that ain’t getting through. I mean, who are they praying to? And so, I just I have a great deal of disdain for And listen, there are people who will say, “I love Donald Trump’s policies. I hate the man that he is.” That is just a very very weird paradigm that I’m not sure I could find myself in. >> I have I have two issues with the statement today. Right. Certainly, silence would have been vastly preferable to this, >> but number one is just the sheer and utter soullessness of this statement. How long was it between the actual murder and the statement? Seven hours, six hours? I mean, not even a moment of breath and grace. But number two, as Anna referred to, the statement spreads misinformation. It suggests that the cause of the murder was something about politics or Robin’s view of Donald Trump. That is dangerous. We see how quickly the the tiniest little flicker can cause conspiracy theories and inaccurate information to take off. It’s irresponsible of him to do that. And I’m actually surprised it could have been an opportunity for Donald Trump to say, “Look what narcotics do to families. This is one of his number one issues. It’s why he’s doing what he’s doing with Venezuelan boats, right?” And he could have said, “You see, you see what these drugs do to these families. It’s horrible. My blessings, my my prayers are with them.” Definitely a missed opportunity on on the level you and I didn’t think about your level, but on the level of what Anna is saying, you know, he could have risen to the occasion and just said, putting all the politics aside, this was an absolute American tragedy. I have sons. You know, it’s it’s unimaginable. And let’s all say a prayer and then hug hug each other or hold each other’s hands at the the prayer >> c. Think of this. Think of this family today. [clears throat] Think about a daughter who walked into that house >> and found her parents and got another son as well. Um his >> given given what we just lived through with Charlie. [clears throat] I mean I mean every conservative that I know >> is still very much processing this. And >> I’m gonna stop you there because I I want to play some of the reaction to when Charlie Kirk was killed. Here is sort of a just a smattering of what was said um from mostly from Republicans. >> Over the last 11 days, we have heard stories of commentators, influencers, and others in our society who greeted his assassination with sick approval, excuses, or even jubilation. The man wasn’t even buried yet, and Democrat members of Congress were denigrating his memory. Many Democrats in elective office have now been totally captured by a radical fringe of the far-left base who want to dehumanize every person they disagree with. We must continue to call this wickedness out. >> Some of the very same people who spent the last eight years trying to sit in moral judgment of anyone who disagreed with them about politics suddenly started cheering for murder. the hypocrisy that you hear there, right? You hear them talking about the left doing this and then the statement. How do you square those two things? >> I don’t I disagree with the statement. I wish he hadn’t made it. Uh and as I mentioned, you know, what happened after Charlie died? Lots of people were quick to celebrate the death, call him uh racist, call him Nazi, attribute statements to him that he never made, etc., etc. And those of us on the right who knew Charlie and loved Charlie, you know, were quick to call that out and say, “This is misinformation. This is a heinous way to treat someone who left behind a grieving widow and little children.” So, I don’t swear it. >> Uh because we just, you know, we’re still processing that >> and if we want to expect other people to live up to uh a standard that they didn’t live up to after Charlie, we should >> But Scott, this is more than just other people, right? And I listen, I agree with you. Uh, anybody who celebrated after Trump got [clears throat] shot, shame on them. Anybody who celebrated after Charlie Kirk got uh, murdered, shame on them. But I I refuse to hold some trolls on the internet or some, you know, influencers or fringe people, whomever they are, who whomever they are. >> Well, it was elected officials, members of Congress, very important. >> I don’t hold I will not hold them to the same bar that I hold the president of the United States. I think, you know, he’s got the biggest bully pulpit. And as anybody who’s ever been attacked by Donald Trump knows, once he attacks, it gives permission to so many others that hang on his every word to do the same thing. And it hurts my heart to think about Romy Riner and Jake Reiner, the siblings, the surviv the siblings who, you know, who are the victims also of of this crime and what’s going to befall them from social media because of what Trump just did. It’s just irresponsible and horrible. The [clears throat] fascinating part about this conversation though is that if Trump is one thing, he is consistent. And I, you know, I I’ve always told people that Trump has, you know, I’ve always referred to Trump as one of the most honest brokers we have in politics. He’s he told us exactly what he was going to do when he was running for president. He’s executing on those plans. Uh, but even when he came down the escalator in 2025, I mean, we had, >> excuse me, 2015, I’m in [clears throat] a time war. 2015. I mean, the the essence of one I think they the quote is character is who you are when no one’s watching, right? The essence of Donald Trump’s character has never been in question, people who you who worked with him, people who contracted with him, people who rented from him, people who knew him from back in New York, people who had to he denigrated Ted Cruz’s wife. He called her ugly, right? like he created nicknames for people on the stage and he was running for president of the United States. that what we have done in this country, Democrats, Republicans, and even more importantly, the mainstream media, I hope people hear that. Even more importantly, the mainstream media is we have created a bottomless pit of character for the people that we elect to high office in this

Bakari Sellers, Scott Jennings, Anna Navarro, and Arthur Aidala discuss Trump’s statement about Rob Reiner after Reiner’s son murdered his parents, with panelists agreeing Trump should have said nothing.

Aidala recalls his grandfather teaching him if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all, noting Trump didn’t acknowledge Vice President Dick Cheney’s death. Jennings agrees Trump should have said nothing despite Reiner being a vocal critic who raised millions against Trump, noting Reiner condemned Charlie Kirk’s murder forcefully.

Navarro condemns Trump for not rising to the occasion and attacking Reiner by saying his death was caused by criticism of Trump, calling it disgusting and unacceptable, comparing it to Obama singing Amazing Grace at Mother Emanuel shooting and Bush after 9/11. Sellers argues the bar for Trump is in hell with expectations he simply be quiet, questioning evangelical Christians on Trump’s prayer council who turn a blind eye.

Discussion covers Trump spreading misinformation about the murder’s cause and missing opportunity to discuss how narcotics affect families, hypocrisy compared to Republicans condemning celebration of Charlie Kirk’s murder, and Sellers refusing to hold internet trolls to same standard as president whose attacks give permission to others.

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Bakari Sellers made history in 2006 when, at just 22 years old, he defeated a 26-year incumbent State Representative to become the youngest member of the South Carolina state legislature and the youngest African American elected official in the nation. His political career did not stop there. In 2014, Sellers won the Democratic nomination for Lt. Governor in South Carolina, and has also worked for United States Congressman James Clyburn and former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin.

Sellers is the author of The New York Times best-selling book My Vanishing Country: A Memoir, which has been described as part memoir, part historical and cultural analysis – illustrating the lives of America’s forgotten black working-class men and women. He has also expanded his audience with the Bakari Sellers Podcast, a twice-a-week show part of The Ringer Podcast Network that addresses a variety of topics. He is also a prominent political contributor for CNN.

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