Celebrities and lawmakers from both of the US’s big political parties are condemning Donald Trump after the president blamed the death of Rob Reiner on what he described as the acclaimed Hollywood director’s dislike of him.
After the apparent killings of Reiner, 78, and his 68-year-old wife, Michele, who were found dead at their home Sunday in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles, Trump took to social media to call the director “tortured and struggling”. Trump also claimed Reiner died “due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind-crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME”.
Trump then pivoted to praising his own accomplishments, asserting that Reiner’s alleged “raging obsession” and “obvious paranoia” toward him stood in contrast to his administration. Trump also maintained that he had “surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness ... with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before”.
Later on Monday, Trump responded to a reporter’s question during an unrelated White House event by doubling down and mocking the director. “I wasn’t a fan of his at all, he was a deranged person as far as Trump is concerned,” the president said.
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“He knew it was false, in fact it was the exact opposite, but he said that I was a friend of Russia, controlled by Russia, the Russia hoax, he was one of the people behind it. I think he hurt himself career-wise, he became like a deranged person,” he added.
Los Angeles police on Monday confirmed the Reiners’ 32-year-old son, Nick, had been arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the deaths of his parents. His bail was set at $4m.
Celebrities and lawmakers, meanwhile, were swift to lambast Trump over what they described as “petty” and “disgusting” comments.
“What a disgusting and vile statement,” actor Patrick Schwarzenegger wrote on X.
Similarly, television host Whoopi Goldberg, who described Reiner as her friend and “quite an amazing man,” condemned Trump.
She referenced Trump’s own attacks on critics of the far-right political activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot dead in September.
That killing prompted reprisals from the White House against those who cited Kirk’s history of hostile rhetoric toward immigrants, women and other marginalised groups.
Goldberg said: “I don’t understand the man in the White House. He spoke at length about Charlie Kirk and about caring, and then this is what he puts out. Have you no shame? No shame at all? Can you get any lower? I don’t think so.”
Meanwhile, California’s Democratic governor Gavin Newsom wrote on X: “This is a sick man.”
Echoing Newsom, US House member Maxwell Alejandro Frost, a Florida Democrat, said: “What a despicable piece of garbage.”
US senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, similarly said of Trump: “He’s just lost it. Now saying Rob and Michele Reiner caused their own murder because they didn’t support him. So sick.”
US House member Zoe Lofgren, another California Democrat, called Trump’s comments “a new low for this petty, hateful man”. Lofgren added: “His party needs to condemn this.”
Similarly, US House member Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, wrote: “This is a family tragedy, not about politics or political enemies.”
Greene also seemingly alluded to Nick Reiner’s past experiences with addiction and homelessness, writing, “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.”
Greene’s fellow Republican US House member Thomas Massie struck a similar chord. The Kentucky representative said: “Regardless of how you felt about Rob Reiner, this is inappropriate and disrespectful discourse about a man who was just brutally murdered.”
Massie also said he challenged anyone in his party – including vice-president JD Vance and White House staff – to defend Trump’s commentary.
Reiner had long been a vocal critic of Trump. In a 2017 interview with Variety, he said Trump was “mentally unfit” to be president. And Reiner warned the Guardian that the US could slide into autocracy if Trump successfully ran for a second presidency in 2024 – which he did.
“We see autocracy making its move around the world,” Reiner said at the time. “If we [the US] crumble, there’s a danger that democracy crumbles around the world.”
Despite his criticisms of Trump and far-right Christian nationalist movements, Reiner expressed “absolute horror” and unequivocally condemned political violence after Kirk was shot.
“It’s beyond belief what happened to him,” Reiner said at the time. “That should never happen to anybody. I don’t care what your political beliefs are. That’s not acceptable. That’s not a solution to solving problems.”
Meanwhile, Reiner’s wife, Michele – formerly Michele Singer before her marriage – was the photographer behind the cover image of Trump’s 1987 book The Art of the Deal.
“My wife, Michele, who is a professional photographer – she took the photo that’s on the cover of the book The Art of the Deal,” Reiner told Politico at one point. He also said: “They were up on this high-rise that he was constructing, and they were going to take the pictures overlooking [New York City’s] Central Park. And the wind was blowing, and he said: ‘I got to get this hairspray, you know, I need this special hairspray.’” – The Guardian
