From the Editors: The words of a President

After director and actor Rob Reiner was murdered earlier this week along with his wife Michele, there was an outpouring of grief and sadness at the loss of the celebrated Hollywood figure whom it is alleged, tragically, was murdered by his own son.

The feeling of loss and sympathy for the Reiners’ family was nearly universal, irrespective of his politics — but there was a notable exception. President Trump’s message on Truth Social the next day was unlike that of any other public figure in a way that shocked and appalled even many of the president’s diehard supporters.

It got 41,000 likes on Truth Social, a social media site owned by the President and frequented by his most hardcore followers. So someone out there thought this was an appropriate way to speak of a murdered couple. The first sentence was fine. The last sentence, too. But everything in between was a rant that should have stayed safely locked away in the author’s head.

As a board, we rarely wade into issues of national politics and policy. There are plenty of sources of opinion on such matters, and we prefer to stay in our lane and focus on state and local issues. But from time to time, there are matters that we believe transcend the constraints of federalism and are worth addressing. This is one of them.

Being President means that everyone will listen to what you have to say. Whether they agree or not, they will hear and read your words around the country and around the world. But that power creates a duty to be responsible with what you say. An ordinary citizen could speak ill of the recently deceased and simply be ignored by decent folks. But we cannot ignore the President of the United States and, for that reason, it is incumbent on him to remember the dignity of his office in every word he speaks or types.

In his memoirs, Calvin Coolidge wrote that “everything that the President does potentially at least is of such great importance that he must be constantly on guard.” That was true a hundred years ago in Coolidge’s day, when the newish medium of radio meant that a president’s words could resound from coast to coast fairly quickly. It is a much more powerful consideration in our own time, when an ill-considered tweet gets around the world — with no editorial input, no context, no chance to rethink it — in mere seconds. And with it, the power to mobilize markets and militaries across the globe. 

“The words of a President have an enormous weight,” Coolidge wrote, “and ought not to be used indiscriminately.” Insulting a recently murdered man — and even implying that the death was in some way Reiner’s own fault — would certainly have been beneath Coolidge’s personal dignity. But even if that had not been the case, he would have found it to be beneath the dignity of the office he held. 

The Presidency is not a venue for personal grievances to be aired; it is a solemn trust, a job for someone who aspires to represent the entire American nation.

But we do not have to hearken back to Coolidge to know how a President should address the death of a political opponent. We can consider Trump’s own words in 2020, when he heard about the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. When told of her passing by reporters after a rally, Trump’s words were simple and decent.

“She led an amazing life,” he said. “What else can you say? She was an amazing woman. Whether you agree or not, she was an amazing woman who led an amazing life. I’m actually saddened to hear that. I am saddened to hear that.”

Many of those assembled reporters had no doubt expected a trademark Trump rant about a woman who had publicly criticized him and who had differed with him considerably on her views of government and politics. Instead, the president rose to the occasion. It was as heartening then as his statements on Reiner are disheartening now. 

Earlier this year, when some public officials took to social media with vile reactions to Charlie Kirk’s assassination, the public reaction was swift and most people were appalled. Some Democrats even lost their jobs over it, because the people did not want to be represented by someone so lacking in dignity and common decency. But are Trump’s words about Reiner any different?

President Trump should return to the more dignified expressions of yesteryear — whether that be 1920 or 2020 — and consider that his comments speak for himself, his administration, his office, and indeed his nation.