MAGA’s 'crackup' accelerates as Trump remains 'fundamentally disconnected from reality'

After President Donald Trump attacked Rob Reiner following the iconic actor/director's death, he got a stern rebuke from a major figure in the MAGA movement: outgoing Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia). Trump wrote that Reiner was killed by "a mind-crippling disease known as Trump derangement syndrome."

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) is investigating the deaths of Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle Reiner as homicides, and their son Nick Reiner was booked on suspicion of murder. Rob Reiner, remembered for his portrayal of Mike "Meathead" Stivic on Norman Lear's 1970s sitcom "All in the Family" and for directing films ranging from "This Is Spinal Tap" to the romantic comedy "When Harry Met Sally," was an outspoken supporter of liberal causes and a major Trump critic.

In a December 15 post on X, formerly Twitter, Greene wrote, "This is a family tragedy, not about politics or political enemies. Many families deal with a family member with drug addiction and mental health issues. It's incredibly difficult and should be met with empathy especially when it ends in murder."

During a conversation for The New Republic's podcast "The Daily Blast," host Greg Sargent and NR editor Alex Shephard argued that the backlash to Trump's comments on Rob Reiner and the rebuke from Greene underscore the "crackup" taking place in the MAGA movement almost 11 months into Trump's second presidency.

Sargent, a former Washington Post columnist, told Shephard, "So, Rob Reiner and his wife appear to have been murdered, which is an unspeakable horror. Trump, unsurprisingly, seized on this to claim they had died of 'Trump derangement syndrome' and said Reiner's paranoia had reached new heights amid Trump's world-historical successes. Alex, that's deranged even for Trump. But notably, MAGA has been quite critical of this."

Shephard agreed with Sargent's analysis, arguing, "Even by the demented standards by which we judged Donald Trump, this was a pretty despicable statement….. What we're seeing over the last few months, particularly since the elections last month, is that Republicans are rightly realizing that they have attached themselves to a mad king — that people don't like this guy. And I think what they especially don't like is the correct sense that he is focused on personal vendettas, a White House ballroom, the sort of marble bathroom in the Lincoln Bedroom, and not on issues of affordability."

Shephard continued, "And so, Trump saying something horrible about Rob Reiner's murder only reinforces what most Americans already realize, which is that Republicans and this president in particular do not care about the problems that they have right now."

Greene, Shephard told Sargent, "sees the president for what he is, which is a lame duck that not only most of the country, but a lot of Republican voters, are just sort of disgusted by or tuning out" — and she offered a "brutal takedown" of "somebody who is fundamentally disconnected from reality."

Shephard noted that the "more consumed" Trump is "by personal vendettas," the worse it is for the MAGA movement.

Shephard told Sargent, "What you’re seeing is — and you saw this a bit with the Reiner backlash — is that people are realizing that they don't have to toe the line. I think it's a slow crackup. As was the case during the first term, I think everyone was always like, 'This is the moment that it's all going to come crashing down.' I don't think we can count on that, but I think what we are seeing and what we've seen accelerate over the last six weeks is this slow dismantling of this horrific administration."

Listen to the full New Republic podcast at this link or read the transcript here.