Donald Trump's "professional-wrestling style of leadership" during his second term as president has become even more bombastic, combative and self-centered in recent weeks — and according to a new analysis from New York Times chief White House reporter Peter Baker,it's beginning to leave even his conservative political allies feeling "sickened."
As Baker notes, Trump's brash demeanor has been a large part of his appeal to his supporters, who view him as "bracingly authentic in a world of cookie-cutter, talking points-reading politicians," and still do in light of his more recent behavior.
"They love his professional-wrestling style of leadership," Baker wrote. "He tells it like it is. He’s not afraid to mix it up. He takes down the elites and the 'woke' liberals."
Now, however, Trump's outbursts and general behavior have started to leave a bad taste in the mouths of once-loyal conservative allies. Some, Baker suggested, have started to whisper that the president is becoming "unhinged," something once only "shouted by Democrats and Never Trumpers."
Baker laid out a string of recent Trump controversies, noting that one above all turned allies against him, citing a specific reaction from Nebraska GOP Rep. Don Bacon.
"It was one thing when Mr. Trump called a reporter 'piggy,'" Baker wrote. "Or casually threatened to put a half-dozen members of Congress to death for accurately stating the laws of war. Or labeled all Somali immigrants 'garbage.' Or declared that daring to question his physical energy level at age 79 was 'seditious, perhaps even treasonous.' But when Mr. Trump cavalierly attacked the Hollywood icon Rob Reiner just hours after his body was found in a grisly murder scene, it sickened even some of his own political allies."
“I’d expect to hear something like this from a drunk guy at a bar, not the president of the United States,” Bacon said during an appearance on CNN, discussing Trump's comments about Reiner. “Can the president be presidential?”
Bacon was far from the only Trump ally to speak out.
"This is a family tragedy, not about politics or political enemies," Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote in a post to X. "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.”
"A man and his wife were murdered last night," Jenna Ellis, a member of the Trump 2020 legal team, wrote in her own post. "This is NOT the appropriate response."