Bret Stephens, the conservative New York Times columnist, unleashed a scathing critique of Donald Trump this week, calling him โthe most loathsome human being ever to occupy the White House.โ
The attack came after Trump targeted the late actor and director Rob Reiner on social media, just days after Reiner and his wife Michele tragically died in their Los Angeles home, allegedly at the hands of their troubled son.
Stephens, who is usually critical of Trump but careful with his words, said this moment demanded a stronger response. He described Trump as a โpetty, hollow, squalid, overstuffed manโ whose behavior has repeatedly degraded the standards of public life. For Stephens, Trumpโs attack on Reiner wasnโt just a personal insultโit was a public display of cruelty that reveals the broader damage of his presidency.
Markets wonโt move and history wonโt be rewritten by the Reinersโ deaths, Stephens wrote. But the tragedy is profound, he noted, calling the couple a โterrible national loss.โ He highlighted Reinerโs contributions to film, citing classics like Stand by Me, The Princess Bride, and When Harry Met Sallyโฆ, and emphasized that Reiner and Michele represented one of Hollywoodโs great real-life love stories. โTheir liberal politics, though mostly not my own, were honorable and sincere,โ Stephens added.
Trump, however, chose to respond with a social media post that Stephens said must be read in full to be believed. In it, the president called Reiner โa tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy starโ and blamed his โTRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROMEโ for Reinerโs alleged obsession with him. Stephens argued the post โcaptures the combination of preposterous grandiosity, obsessive self-regard and gratuitous spiteโ that has marked much of Trumpโs public life.
For Stephens, the deeper problem isnโt just Trumpโs ego. Itโs the way his behavior erodes the very norms that hold a society together. โGood people and good nations do not stomp on the grief of others,โ he wrote. โPolitics is meant to end at the graveside. Thatโs not just some social nicetyโitโs a foundational taboo that any civilized society must enforce.โ
The columnist contrasted Trump with other conservatives who put politics aside during the Reinersโ deaths. Actor James Woods, for instance, publicly praised Reiner as โa great patriotโ despite their differing political views. Stephens highlighted such acts as evidence that empathy and decency still exist outside the Trump orbit.
Stephens also tied Trumpโs conduct to a broader picture of national instability. The post attacking Reiner came shortly after violent tragedies, including a shooting at Brown University that killed two people and an attack on Australiaโs Jewish community during Hannukah that left 15 dead. In Stephensโ view, these events illustrate how damaging it is to have a leader whose focus is on personal attacks rather than governing responsibly.
Looking at the presidency as a whole, Stephens argued that Trumpโs actionsโgrandiose, spiteful, and ego-drivenโhave done lasting damage to the country. โThat is where history will record that the deepest damage by the Trump presidency was done,โ he wrote. While policy mistakes can be corrected and alliances rebuilt, the corrosion of norms, civility, and basic respect for human grief is far harder to repair.
For Stephens, Trumpโs public behavior reflects a broader moral failure: a leader more interested in humiliating opponents than upholding the dignity of the office. His contempt for others, even during moments that demand empathy, leaves a legacy defined not by achievements but by the erosion of decency.
Featured image via Youtube Screengrab
