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Agence France-Presse

Donald Trump faced a storm of condemnation on Monday after posting “perverse” and “sick” remarks suggesting Rob Reiner and his wife were murdered because of the celebrated filmmaker’s criticism of the US president.
Among those voicing shock were some staunch Trump loyalists, and the remarks triggered a wave of unusually negative responses on the Truth Social network he uses to communicate with his base.
As tributes poured in, Trump claimed the Reiners had died “reportedly due to the anger” that the director had sparked by criticising the Republican leader.
Trump boasted of his own political success and said Reiner had “driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession” with attacking the president.

The comments came as police announced that Reiner’s son, Nick, had been arrested on suspicion of murder - a development that intensified the backlash.
“I’d expect to hear something like this from a drunk guy at a bar, not the president of the United States,” Nebraska Republican Don Bacon, who retires from the House of Representatives next year, told CNN.
Marjorie Taylor Greene, once one of Trump’s fiercest allies in Congress, scolded Trump over his response to a “family tragedy” that was “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.
Thomas Massie, another Trump critic on the Republican side of the House of Representatives, called the president’s comments “inappropriate and disrespectful” while New York moderate Mike Lawler called the remarks “wrong”.
Even House Speaker Mike Johnson, a major Trump ally, distanced himself from the president’s post. “We have to appeal to our better angels, and I think we’ve got to amplify those voices and those sentiments. So that’s my position on it,” he told reporters when asked about Trump’s comments.

Trump has long trafficked in incendiary social media posts, but open rebukes from within his own party were once almost unimaginable.
Asked at a White House medal ceremony whether he stood by his remarks, Trump was unapologetic – doubling down and further vilifying the When Harry Met Sally director.
“I think he hurt himself … career-wise. He became like a deranged person, Trump derangement syndrome,” Trump said. “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.”
Miles Taylor, a former Trump administration homeland security official who became a prominent internal critic after anonymously publishing a 2019 tell-all book, accused the president of “mocking the dead” and branded him a “sick creep”.
“His attacks on (Republican senator) John McCain after the veteran’s death pushed me to speak out from within his administration. (The) taunting of Rob Reiner’s murder makes me even more determined to defy Trump.”
Reiner was an outspoken critic of Trump, calling the billionaire a threat to American democracy and raising funds for Democratic candidates.

David Axelrod, the former chief strategist to Democratic President Barack Obama, described Trump’s post as “perverse”.
“The absence of empathy & grace for the Reiner family in their moment of profound loss and grief is sad and revealing. For @POTUS, his grievances trumps their grief.”
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said Trump had “lost it”.
“Now saying Rob and Michele Reiner caused their own murder because they didn’t support him. So sick,” he wrote.
The US president’s unsympathetic message was the latest example of Trump’s unsparing prism through which he views those he perceives as enemies.
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.
And after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk earlier this year, Trump said Kirk’s killing was “the tragic consequence of demonising those with whom you disagree”.
His administration then sought consequences for people who were critical of Kirk or even celebrated his killing.
Additional reporting by Associated Press and Reuters


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Donald Trump

Trump mocks murdered director Rob Reiner, drawing condemnations

US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Monday. Photo: AP

US President Donald Trump’s Truth Social post. Photo: AFP

Tributes on Rob Reiner’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Photo: Reuters

Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner. Photo: AP

Son arrested after Hollywood director Rob Reiner and wife found dead in LA home

Director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner earlier this year. Photo: TNS

The scene near Rob Reiner’s home in Brentwood, Los Angeles. Photo: AP

Rob Reiner, second left, with his wife Michele, left, and children Nick, centre, Romy and Jake in 2014. Photo: Invision via AP

Classic American films: The Princess Bride – the 10 best quotes from Rob Reiner’s 1987 fairy tale

B7W3F5 The Princess Bride Year: 1987 USA Robin Wright Penn Director: Rob Reiner. Image shot 1966. Exact date unknown.

EF8A9N CARY ELWES THE PRINCESS BRIDE (1987)

Cary Elwes (left) and Robin Wright in The Princess Bride (1987), directed by Rob Reiner. Photo: Alamy

Trump threatens funding for Chicago transit after woman set on fire

Surveillance footage shows a man holding a flaming bottle and approaching a passenger on a Chicago Blue Line train in November. Photo: Chicago Transit Authority/US District Court Northern District of Illinois via AP

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker speaks during an event in Chicago in November. Photo: Reuters

A Chicago police officer patrols the Clark Street and Lake Street Blue Line stop where a man allegedly set a woman on fire in November. Photo: AP

US hunt for Brown University shooter continues as police release person of interest

Authorities on Saturday released a short video clip of a person of interest dressed in black. Photo: Providence Police Department via AFP

Swat team members at the scene. Photo: The Sun Chronicle via AP

The Brown University campus. Photo: Reuters

FBI foils New Year’s Eve bomb plot in Los Angeles, US attorney general says

Photos of the suspects are shown on a screen during a press conference in Los Angeles. Photo: AP

Officials play surveillance footage at Monday’s press conference. Photo: AP

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US president condemned for inflammatory post about filmmaker’s death, but doubles down by calling Reiner a ‘deranged person’


US president condemned for inflammatory post about filmmaker’s death, but doubles down by calling Reiner a ‘deranged person’.


Trump mocks murdered director Rob Reiner, drawing condemnations

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}US president condemned for inflammatory post about filmmaker’s death, but doubles down by calling Reiner a ‘deranged person’

US president condemned for inflammatory post about filmmaker’s death, but doubles down by calling Reiner a ‘deranged person’