President Trump caused a political storm Monday by saying the deaths of director Rob Reiner and his wife were related to politics, calling them “reportedly” the result of “Trump derangement syndrome.”
The remark, made in a Truth Social post, drew notable shock and quick criticism from both sides of the aisle.
While Trump doesn’t often draw immediate blowback a decade into his political career, on Monday morning he seemed to achieve the type of pushback that was more common in his first term.
“A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood. 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,” Trump wrote.
Reiner — a Democrat and donor — and his wife were found stabbed to death in their home Sunday afternoon. Their 32-year-old son, Nick, was arrested in connection to the deaths, Los Angeles police announced Monday. He had a long history of drug abuse that he has spoken about publicly over the past several years.
In his social media post, Trump went on to say Rob Reiner “was known to have driven people crazy” with his obsession with the president, adding that Reiner’s “paranoia” reached “new heights” as the administration “surpassed all goals and expectations.”
“May Rob and Michele rest in peace!” the president concluded.
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The director was an outspoken critic of Trump and repeatedly warned against his impact on democracy.
“Make no mistake: We have a year before this country becomes a full on autocracy and democracy completely leaves us,” Reiner told MSNBC, now known as MS NOW, in September.
In a separate interview with The Guardian in February 2024, Reiner called Trump “a criminal” who “basically lies every minute of his life.”
Trump’s reaction to Reiner’s death sparked backlash among fellow Republicans.
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) said in a post on the social platform that the president’s statement “was wrong.”
“Regardless of one’s political views, no one should be subjected to violence, let alone at the hands of their own son. It’s a horrible tragedy that should engender sympathy and compassion from everyone in our country, period,” he wrote.
Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.) also reposted Trump’s remarks, saying Reiner’s apparent homicide should not be politicized.
“A father and mother were murdered at the hands of their troubled son. We should be lifting the family up in prayer, not making this about politics,” Bice wrote.
In his own X post, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), a vocal Trump critic and one of the first GOP members to comment on the president’s remark, called Trump’s comments “inappropriate and disrespectful.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) noted Nick Reiner’s long history with drug abuse, describing the deaths as “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,” she posted on X.
The online blowback from the GOP extended to a number of conservative media figures and MAGA influencers.
“This tweet is so disappointing. And so unnecessary. It’s comments like this that take away from the countless great things @realDonaldTrump does for America,” conservative sports commentator Sage Steele wrote in an X post.
CNN commentator and Trump campaign alum David Urban called Trump’s remarks “indefensible.”
“Why not simply: ‘Melania and I extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to the Reiner family at this very difficult time’?” Urban said.
Many on both the political left and the right were quick to point to a post from “The Charlie Kirk Show” executive producer and Turning Point USA Chair Andrew Kolvet, which was published prior to Trump’s Truth Social post. Kolvet praised Reiner for his response to Kirk’s killing in September.
“Rob Reiner responded with grace and compassion to Charlie’s assassination. This video makes it all the more painful to hear of he and his wife’s tragic end. May God be close to the broken hearted in this terrible story,” Kolvet wrote late Sunday.
Despite the pushback, Trump dug in when asked about the post in the Oval Office.
“I wasn’t a fan of his at all. He was a deranged person as far as Trump is concerned,” Trump told reporters, before saying Reiner was a part of “the Russia Hoax.”
“I think he hurt himself career-wise. He became a deranged person. 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,” the president said.
Democratic figures, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), former Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Obama, took to social media to offer their condolences to the Reiner family following the news.
“Michelle and I are heartbroken by the tragic passing of Rob Reiner and his beloved wife, Michele. Rob’s achievements in film and television gave us some of our most cherished stories on screen. But beneath all of the stories he produced was a deep belief in the goodness of people—and a lifelong commitment to putting that belief into action,” Obama wrote on X.
