Conservative blogger Erick Erickson speaking at the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, Image via Gage Skidmore / Flickr.
A prominent GOP insider and right-wing talk radio host warned on Monday that "exhaustion is setting in" due to Donald Trump's behavior, particularly surrounding the death of filmmaker Rob Reiner, even amongst his most fervent supporters.
On Sunday evening, Reiner, the celebrated director of The Princess Bride, was found dead in his Los Angeles home along with his wife. The couple's son, Nick Reiner, was arrested and later charged with murder in connection with his parents' deaths.
In response to the tragic news, Trump took to Truth Social with a lengthy post about Reiner's passing, including an insinuation that the director's death was the result of "Trump Derangement Syndrome." Outside his filmmaking career, Reiner was a lifelong advocate for Democratic political causes and an outspoken critic of Trump.
This response from the president quickly drew a landslide of backlash, both from his detractors as well as some of his most ardent MAGA supporters. Posting several times about the situation on X Monday, Erick Erickson, a prominent right-wing talk radio host and former Fox News contributor, said that this post was the latest example of behavior that is driving people away from supporting Trump and his political movement, raising serious questions about the 2028 presidential election.
"We are not a full year into the Trump administration and exhaustion is setting in for even people who voted for the president," Erickson wrote. "At some point, the people looking to 2028 have to wonder how they mitigate being so tied to that which exhausts everybody."
Earlier in the day, Erickson shared another post from X user Pradheep Shanker in which they suggested that the post about Reiner would accelerate Trump's "lame duck" status."
"You want to hasten Trump's evolution to full lame duck status, this about the fastest way to do it," Shanker wrote. "Average Americans think this is gross and want no part of it."
"Just thinking about the President’s reaction to Rob Reiner’s death — a relative last night told me he voted for Trump, he likes Trump’s policies, but he’s exhausted by Trump and embarrassed by the President’s behaviour," Erickson said in an excerpt from his radio show notes shared to X. "He wished the President would just go off the grid for a while. Instead, we have Trump going off on the murder of Rob Reiner."
Throughout the day, Erickson also shared a video of Reiner's more measured and empathetic reaction to the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
"All those people who lost their jobs for their disgusting tweets about Charlie Kirk's assassination are staring at the President of the United States's social media account in disbelief," Erickson wrote.
He also highlighted the White House's rapid response team's official account sharing Trump's post, putting to bed suggestions from Trump supporters that the Reiner post was fake.
"Good grief," Erickson wrote. "Sorry, but it is real."
We are not a full year into the Trump administration and exhaustion is setting in for even people who voted for the president. At some point, the people looking to 2028 have to wonder how they mitigate being so tied to that which exhausts everybody.
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) December 15, 2025