US President Donald Trump repeated his criticism of Rob Reiner – after his earlier remarks about the killed Hollywood director, a longtime Trump critic, sparked widespread condemnation.
The US president told reporters the director was “very bad for our country”, having earlier written on Truth Social that Reiner’s death was linked to “Trump derangement syndrome” – a term he often uses to describe his critics.
Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner were found dead at their Los Angeles home on Sunday, and police have arrested their son Nick on suspicion of murder.
They have not suggested any motive in the case, or any evidence that Reiner’s politics and criticism of Trump played any role.
In his social media post, which called the couple’s deaths “very sad”, Trump criticised Reiner, saying: “He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump.”
Those comments were widely criticised, including by prominent Republicans.
Kentucky representative Thomas Massie, a Republican who has clashed with Trump since the president returned to the White House in January, wrote on X: “Regardless of how you felt about Rob Reiner, this is inappropriate and disrespectful discourse about a man who was just brutally murdered.”
He added: “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.”
Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was once a staunch supporter of Trump before recently becoming a frequent critic, said that “this is a family tragedy, not about politics or political enemies” and that the murders should be “met with empathy”.
Multiple other senior members of Trump’s party appeared to distance themselves from the remarks. Senator John Kennedy, a Republican representing Louisiana, said he thought Trump should not have made the comments.
“I think a wise man once said nothing. Why? Because he was a wise man,” Kennedy said. “I think President Trump should have said nothing. I think when the president says these sorts of things, it detracts from his policy achievements.”
Reiner was a lifelong Democrat and prominent liberal activist, and frequently spoke out against Trump.
In 2017, for example, he called Trump “mentally unfit” for office. And as recently as October, Reiner said he believed Trump was ushering in an age of “full-on autocracy” in the US.
Hours after his social media post, Trump repeated his thoughts on Reiner in comments given in the Oval Office to reporters, describing the director as a “deranged person” who was partly “behind” previous claims of collusion between Russia and Trump’s team.
“I was not a fan of Rob Reiner at all, in any way, shape or form,” he said.
Trump has in the past criticised political foes after their death.
Following the death of Arizona Senator John McCain – with whom he clashed regularly – in 2019, for example, Trump said he “was never a fan” and “never will be”.
In another incident the same year, Trump quipped that the late Democratic lawmaker John Dingell could be “looking up” at him from the grave, a comment which was widely interpreted as a suggestion that Dingell was in hell.
In a statement following the remarks about Dingell, the White House said that the president was “just riffing”.
Reiner, who was 78, was known for directing several iconic films in a variety of genres, including This is Spinal Tap, Stand By Me, Misery and A Few Good Men.
He married Michele, an actress, photographer and producer, in 1989, later recalling that they met during the making of one of his best-known films, When Harry Met Sally. The couple had three children together – including Nick, 32.
Michele, 68, owned the Reiner Light photography agency and production house.
By BBC News
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