WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump blamed Rob Reiner's outspoken opposition to the president for the actor-director's killing Monday.
President Donald Trump speaks Monday in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington.
The unsubstantiated claim, even for Trump, was a shocking comment that came as police investigated the deaths of the director and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, as an apparent homicide.
The couple were found dead at their home Sunday in Los Angeles. Investigators believe they suffered stab wounds, and the couple's son Nick Reiner was in police custody early Monday.
Trump, in a post on his social media network, said Reiner and his wife were killed "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."
He said Reiner "was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness."
Trump has a long track record of inflammatory remarks, but his comments in a social media post were a drastic departure from the role presidents typically play in offering a message of consolation or tribute after the death of a public figure.
His message drew criticism even from conservatives and his supporters and laid bare Trump's unwillingness to rise above political grievance in moments of crisis.
Former Vice President AL Gore, right, listens as movie director Rob Reiner addresses a Tribeca Film Festival news conference April 25, 2007, in New York.
Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, who has bucked much of his party's lockstep agreement with the president, criticized Trump for the comment.
"Regardless of how you felt about Rob Reiner, this is inappropriate and disrespectful discourse about a man who was just brutally murdered," Massie wrote in a post on social media. "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."
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican whom Trump branded a "traitor" for disagreeing with him, responded to Trump's message by saying, "This is a family tragedy, not about politics or political enemies."
Republican Reps. Mike Lawler of New York and Stephanie Bice of Oklahoma, who are not known for pushing back on the White House, also criticized Trump's message.
Reiner — a director of beloved films like "The Princess Bride" and "When Harry Met Sally" — was one of the most active Democrats in the film industry and regularly campaigned on behalf of liberal causes and hosted fundraisers.
He was a vocal critic of Trump, calling him in a 2017 interview with Variety "mentally unfit" to be president and "the single-most unqualified human being to ever assume the presidency of the United States."
The White House, which shared the president's post, did not respond to a message about the criticism it was receiving and calls for Trump to take it down.
Speaking at the White House to reporters later Monday, Trump doubled down on his criticism of Reiner when he was asked if he stood by his post. Using the third person, Trump said Reiner "was a deranged person as far as Trump is concerned."
"I was not a fan of Rob Reiner at all, in any way shape or form," Trump said. "I thought he was very bad for our country."
The unsympathetic message was the latest example of Trump's unsparing prism through which he views those he perceives as enemies.
He made retribution against political enemies a prime focus of his campaign for the White House last year. In the past, he has made light of violence when it has befallen those on the other side of the political aisle.
When Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul Pelosi, was attacked by an intruder looking for the former House speaker at the family's San Francisco home in 2022 and beaten over the head with a hammer, Trump later mocked the attack.
That's despite his comments after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk earlier this year. Trump said Kirk's killing was "the tragic consequence of demonizing those with whom you disagree."
His administration then sought consequences for people who were critical of Kirk or even celebrated his killing.
Jenna Ellis, who was one of Trump's lawyers and worked on his efforts in 2020 to overturn the results of the presidential election, pointed out Trump's double standard and called his post "NOT the appropriate response."
"The Right uniformly condemned political and celebratory responses to Charlie Kirk's death. This is a horrible example from Trump (and surprising considering the two attempts on his own life) and should be condemned by everyone with any decency," Ellis said in a post on social media.
When Trump spoke at Kirk's memorial service, he used his remarks to underline how he views his adversaries.
"I hate my opponent," the president said.
A look back at Rob Reiner's life in photos
FILE - Actor and director Rob Reiner, center, poses for photographs while stumping along with actor Martin Sheen, not seen, for Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean, Jan. 14, 2004, at the University of Northern Iowa, in Cedar Falls, Iowa. (Rick Chase/The Courier via AP, File)
FILE - Sally Struthers plants a kiss on the cheek of Rob Reiner, right, Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton hold hands during a reunion of the cast of "All in the Family," at O'Conner restaurant, Feb. 12, 1991, in Beverly Hill, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Martinez, File)
FILE - Rob Reiner, left, and Sally Struthers introducing the "In Memoriam" segment with a tribute to Norman Lear during the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater, Jan. 15, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
FILE - Honoree Rob Reiner, second left, poses with his wife Michele, left, and children Nick, center, Romy, and Jake at the 41st Annual Chaplin Award Gala at Avery Fisher Hall, April 28, 2014, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner arrive on the red carpet at the State Department for the Kennedy Center Honors gala dinner, Dec. 2, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf, File)
FILE - Director Rob Reiner attends the premiere for "LBJ" on day 8 of the Toronto International Film Festival at Roy Thomson Hall, Thursday, Sept. 15, 2016, in Toronto. (Photo by Arthur Mola/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Carl Reiner, left, and his son Rob Reiner pose together following their hand and footprint ceremony at the TCL Chinese Theatre, April 7, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Writer-director Rob Reiner poses for a portrait, May 2, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Brian Ach/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Actor Rob Reiner and his wife, Penny Marshall, waiting to begin a scene for the film "Love Me and I'll Be Your Best Friend," filming on New York's 84th Street, June 20, 1978. (AP Photo/Dan Grossi, File)
FILE - Rob Reiner talks on the phone at his office at Castle Rock Enterprises, seeking donations for anti-smoking campaigns, July 29, 1988, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)
FILE - Former Vice President AL Gore, right, listens as movie director Rob Reiner addresses a Tribeca Film Festival news conference on a series of global warming-themed short films produced by the SOS (Save Our Selves) campaign which opened the festival in a gala hosted by Gore, April 25, 2007, in New York. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
