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

All right, we've got a great group that are here. Let's start with you. When it comes to that comment you just heard there, a wise man says nothing. 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, Artie Idalla, taught me that lesson. I was being critical about someone or something, and he was like, hey, Artie, 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.

And I think that would have been the wise choice here. And even if he couldn't help himself but say something critical, you have to say, look, I never liked Rob Reiner. 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. 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. You're allowed to harbor opinions and feelings about people, but in this particular case, someone was tragically murdered. Look, we just as conservatives, we just rolled out of one of the most horrific things that have happened to 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've celebrated that.

They shouldn't have done that either. And so, you know, in this particular case, putting it in your pocket would have been

the right thing. The thing is, Rob Reiner did not celebrate Charlie's murder. Yeah, he condemned it very vocally. So yes, on one hand, he's raised, he's done more than just criticize 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 Reiner came out forcefully and

said I don't care what anyone's politics is, this should go ahead. And I would suggest that the office of president of the United States comes with a higher bar and a certain duty. And if he can't exercise the duty, then just shut up. Keep your mouth shut and keep Rob Reiner's name out of your mouth, particularly today.

But what happened 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 on, 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 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 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

But it Donald Trump, but it is normalized and I think that the no, it's not the problem. Maybe that is my Youthful naivete or maybe that is 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 Mother Emanuel shooting when Barack Obama sang Amazing Grace, how the country was just for even just the dependency 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 after 9-11. I mean those type of tragic events. He was there. I mean I would you you remember the ballgame those type of things Donald Trump doesn't have a capable ride. He tried at the Charlie Kirk Memorial when he hugged his wife and he made respectfully though respectfully Right, 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 hold for 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 hold 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 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 two issues with this 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 Ana

referred to, the statement spreads misinformation. It suggests that the cause of the murder was something about politics or Rob Reiner's view of Donald Trump. That is dangerous. We see how quickly 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 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 unimaginable. And let's all say a prayer and hug each other, hold each other's hands at the prayer council.

Think of this. Think of this family today. Think about a daughter who walked into that house and found her parents.

And he's got another son as well.

I just, given what we just lived through with Charlie, I mean, every conservative that I know is still very much processing this. I'm going to stop you there

because I want to play some of the reaction to when Charlie Kirk was killed. Here is sort of just a smattering of what was said 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 a murder.

The hypocrisy that you hear there, right? You hear them talking about the left doing this. And then the statement, how do you swear those two things?

I don't. I disagree with the statement. I wish he hadn't made it. And as I mentioned, what happened after Charlie died, lots of people were quick to celebrate the death, call him 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 square it.

Because in effect, for conservatives, we're still processing that. And if we want to expect other people to live up to a standard that they didn't live up to after Charlie, we should continue to expect.

But Scott, this is more than just other people, right? And listen, I agree with you Anybody who celebrated after Trump got shot shame on them anybody who celebrated after Charlie Kirk got 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 whoever 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 Reiner and Jake Reiner, the siblings, the siblings who,

you know, who are the victims also 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 fascinating part about this conversation though is that if Trump is one thing, he is consistent. And I've always told people that Trump has, I've always referred to Trump as one of the most honest brokers we have in politics. He told us exactly what he was gonna do when he was running for president.

He's executing on those plans. But even when he came down the escalator in 2025, I mean, we had- You mean 2015? Excuse me, 2015. I'm in 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 rent it him, people who rent it 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 have created a bottomless pit of character for the people that we elect

to high office in this country.