The Cracks in Trump’s Coalition Are Multiplying and Widening
Medium | 29.12.2025 23:58
For most of the past decade, it seemed like Donald Trump really could have shot someone on 5th Avenue without losing any supporters. He put the Republican party in a headlock in 2015, and conservative office-holders still do not dare to squirm.
Until now.
Trump’s unhinged comments about the murder of the anti-Trump director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michelle, inspired rare rebukes from Republicans. That never would have happened at the height of Trump’s power and influence.
Instead of saying, as Don Bacon (R-Nebraska) did, “I’d expect to hear something like this from a drunk guy at a bar, not the President of the United States,” Republicans would have criticized the critics for politicizing the murders that Trump politicized.
The Republican backlash against Trump’s comments about the Reiners is just the latest signal suggesting Trump may not be invincible in 2026.
How has Trump’s political invincibility eroded? Where might American politics be heading?
