HOW LOW CAN HE GO?

Donald Trump mocked the gruesome murder of a beloved film director — prompting even many Republicans to wonder what the hell is wrong with him.

• President Donald Trump and far-right pundits often insist that the political left is uniquely inclined to revel in political violence, in a way that the right never would. “You won’t see people on the right celebrating the horrific murder of Rob Reiner and his wife,” influencer Jack Posobiec predicted hours after the director behind “When Harry Met Sally…” and “The Princess Bride” was found murdered in his Los Angeles home alongside his wife, Michele.

• He spoke too soon. Trump couldn’t resist dancing on the grave of a longtime Democratic donor, who had called Trump “mentally unfit” to serve as president.

• “Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS,” the president wrote on social media. “He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump.”

• The post, which was later promoted by the White House, surely ranks among Trump’s most reprehensible statements of all time. Trump once again proved himself incapable of basic human empathy in the face of a horrific tragedy that prompted tribute and sympathy from around the world. Authorities have charged Reiner’s son with murder. He’s being held on $4 million bail.

• Trump later doubled down on his attacks. “He was a deranged person,” the president told reporters in the White House. “Trump derangement syndrome. So, I was not a fan of Rob Reiner at all, in any way, shape, or form. I thought he was very bad for our country.”

Even Republicans expressed shock and horror at Trump’s glee over the death of a critic.

• Republican luminaries almost never rebuke Trump, often out of fear that he’ll attack them next. But his comments about Reiner appeared to cross a line.

• Conservative lawyer Jenna Ellis, who played a key role in attempts to reverse the 2020 election results, described the remarks as a “horrible example from Trump.” Talk show host Piers Morgan blasted the post “dreadful” and called on him to delete it. Conservative Christian commentator Erik Erickson offered a sober analysis of the failure of “prominent Evangelicals” in Trump’s inner circle: “The whole project has descended into getting scraps from the table of power at the expense of the President’s soul.”

• “This statement is wrong,” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) tweeted. “It’s a horrible tragedy that should engender sympathy and compassion from everyone in our country, period.” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) offered condolences to the Reiner family, striking a contrast to Trump’s rhetoric. “While I disagreed with Rob politically, vehemently at times, no one deserves the ending he and Michele received,” Mace wrote.

• Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) also condemned MAGAworld and Trump’s allies. “I guess my elected GOP colleagues, the VP, and White House staff will just ignore it because they’re afraid? I challenge anyone to defend it,” Massie wrote.

• Trump’s bizarre invective comes only weeks after he suggested that Democratic lawmakers should be hanged for urging military members to disobey any unlawful orders — even though both Attorney General Pam Bondi and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have also said soldiers shouldn’t obey illegal orders. Republicans found ways to defend his threat; it’ll be more difficult to defend the president’s gloating about a beloved director’s death.

As historian John Ganz put it: “Totally outrageous that right-wingers ever had the temerity to lecture people about civility and respect when this is their guy.”

WHAT ELSE? 👀

Authorities are still searching for the shooter who killed two students and injured 11 others at Brown University on Saturday. Police released a 24-year-old after determining that he was “not a person of interest at all,” according to Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha.

Australian leaders pledged to strengthen the country’s already-robust gun control laws following the deadly Hanukkah shooting at a beach on Sunday, where a gunman killed at least 15 people. “The government is prepared to take whatever action is necessary. Included in that is the need for tougher gun laws,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters. Wow, what a contrast to the way America handles these moments.

The FBI arrested four suspects who were allegedly coordinating to bomb parts of Southern California on New Year’s Eve. The suspects allegedly belong to an offshoot of a group called the Turtle Island Liberation Front, which AG Bondi described as “a far-left, pro-Palestine, anti-government, and anti-capitalist group.” You may be wondering: Is this legit? “I’m told by people I trust this was a real plot — and the FBI put a lot of resources into unraveling it,” MS NOW reporter Ken Dilanian tweeted. “Sounds like really good investigative work.” I trust this guy much more than Pam Bondi.

House Republicans are scrambling to address rising health care costs before they leave for holiday break at the end of the week. But it almost certainly won’t solve the crisis: “With just 17 days until the Obamacare tax credits expire, we can say definitively that Congress — and the country — is going over the Obamacare cliff,” Punchbowl News writes. “Even if the House passes something, the Senate isn’t going to move anything by the deadline.”

A JetBlue flight leaving Curaçao — a small nation near Venezuela — delayed its departure on Friday to avoid a “midair collision” with a U.S. Air Force tanker, according to the pilot. “They passed directly in our flight path,” the pilot said, per a recording of his conversation with air traffic control. “They don’t have their transponder turned on, it’s outrageous.” Maybe we shouldn’t have military planes swarming around there anyways???

Bill and Hillary Clinton are engaged in a tense battle with House Oversight Chair Rep. James Comer (R-KY) to avoid testifying in-person over the Epstein files, The New York Times reports. In private, the Clintons’ lawyer has repeatedly argued that the couple should only have to provide written statements to the committee. Comer has ramped up his rhetoric since, accusing them of ignoring his requests, and is now threatening to hold them in contempt of Congress — which can lead to federal prosecution.

Rap star Nicki Minaj has fully transformed from a Trump critic into one of his administration’s closest allies. These days, you can find her complimenting Vice President JD Vance on X… and vice versa: “Nicki>Cardi” Vance tweeted last week. She has also publicly spoken with Trump officials about the highly contested persecution of Christians in Nigeria. Her strange behavior has sparked an offshoot of her fanbase called “Edgy Barbz,” who aren’t afraid to critique her. I hate this timeline, please go back to singing incredible verses like these.

LIGHT AT THE END ☀️

The father of Ahmed al-Ahmed, the bystander who tackled the Australia shooter, applauded his son’s courageous decision. “He served with the police, and he has the impulse to protect people,” the father said. “I am so proud of my son, because he is a hero all around Australia.” A GoFundMe page for al-Ahmed, who suffered gunshot wounds on his arm, has raised more than $1.7 million.

“Slop” is Merriam-Webster’s word of the year. Definition: “Digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence.” One prominent example of slop filling our timelines has come from Trump officials, who have been using AI to alter Franklin the Turtle book covers to promote violence in the Caribbean and its radical deportation agenda. Is there a specific term for that sub-genre of internet content? Juvenile-MAGA-War-Crime-Internet-Slop?

Holiday movie lovers are flocking to Connecticut, home of at least 22 Hallmark films, for tours of the bustling cities and quaint towns that give the movies their charm. One woman who has been married to her husband for 65 years explained their love for the predictable, G-rated love stories: “We hold hands sometimes,” she said. “It’s kind of sweet. We’ve got two recliners back in a bedroom that’s real small and we’ve got the TV there. And we close the doors off and it’s just our time together in the evening.” Life goals, tbh.

This story isn’t necessarily light, but it’s incredibly fascinating: The New York Times published a yearslong investigation over the weekend, detailing a secret CIA plot in the 1960s that involved using mountaineers to climb one of the most treacherous mountains in the Himalayas. Their mission was to place a nuclear generator on the summit to power a spying operation on China… but the weather got so bad that they abandoned the generator, and it hasn’t been found since. What’s more, the U.S. still won’t admit that they carried out this plan!

A 3.5-mile-wide comet from another star will make its closest approach to Earth on Friday, coming within 167 million miles. It’s expected to leave our neighborhood by the 2030s and never come back, so bust out your telescope and get ready!

Denny’s is launching new footwear for National Maple Syrup Day on Wednesday — with real maple syrup encased inside the shoes. I guess you could say that Denny’s is hoping its new design sticks… (I know, I know.)