Rob Reiner spent a lifetime building stories that moved people, then spent his final years speaking out against a president he believed was dangerous. His criticisms of Donald Trump were harsh, yes, but they were rooted in a conviction that politics mattered, that democracy was fragile, and that silence was a kind of surrender. Even those who disagreed with him rarely doubted his sincerity or his willingness to put his name and reputation on the line.

Trump’s response to Reiner’s killing – framing his death around “Trump Derangement Syndrome” and mocking his “obsession” – has become its own story, one less about partisan loyalty than about basic decency. For many, it crystallizes a moral divide: whether you see political enemies as opponents to be argued with, or as targets to be humiliated, even in death. In the end, Reiner’s legacy will be his work and his conscience. Trump’s words merely reveal his.