Trump attack on Rob
Reiner tests the limits, even for his MAGA base
The
president accused Reiner, who was stabbed to death along with his wife, of
having “Trump derangement syndrome”
Updated
December 15, 2025 at
6:30 p.m. EST34 minutes ago
In the decade since he announced his presidential campaign
by branding immigrants as criminals and rapists, the accepted wisdom about
Donald Trump has become this: No matter how outrageous are the things he says,
he feels no consequences.
With each offensive blast, Republican elected officials are
rendered mute, or tell inquiring journalists they haven’t seen the latest and
quickly excuse themselves. MAGA influencers applaud and celebrate the ire Trump
generates from the left as “owning the liberals.”
So what happened Monday was noteworthy — maybe a sign that
there really is a limit to how low Trump can take the public discourse, maybe
evidence that his powers are waning or maybe nothing more than an anomalous
disturbance in the force.
There was actual blowback from some on the right over the
president’s reaction to the stabbing deaths of Hollywood director Rob Reiner
and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, allegedly at the hands of their 32-year-old son who
had struggled for years with addiction and mental illness. As Trump is wont to
do, he made it all about himself.
The president described the tragedy this way on the Truth Social media platform that
has become an outlet for his id: “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.”
Reiner, Trump wrote, “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, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps
like never before. May Rob and Michele rest in peace!”
This was too much for a handful of conservative influencers
who have large followings of their own.
“What happened last night to Rob Reiner and his wife was a
savage butchering of 2 human lives. I don’t care what their politics were or
how they felt about Trump, no law abiding human deserves this. We should pray
for + send condolences to his loved ones and NOT make it political,” filmmaker
Robby Starbuck wrote on X.
British broadcaster Piers Morgan, a longtime friend of
Trump, wrote: “This is a dreadful thing to say about a man who just got
murdered by his troubled son. Delete it, Mr President.”
And even a few Republicans in Congress — albeit those such
as Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Georgia) and Thomas Massie (Kentucky) who have
already had their differences with Trump — spoke out. Massie wrote: “Regardless
of how you felt about Rob Reiner, this is inappropriate and disrespectful
discourse about a man who was just brutally murdered. 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.”
Reiner, who directed what are regarded as a host of modern Hollywood’s finest
films, was a major force in Democratic politics and a frequent
critic of the president. His shocking and violent death drew immediate
comparisons with the assassination in September of conservative influencer
Charlie Kirk.
Andrew Kolvet, spokesman for Kirk’s organization Turning
Point USA, posted a video on X in which Reiner described his reaction to Kirk’s
death as “horror — absolute horror.” Kolvet wrote: “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.”
But that “grace and compassion” was not universal in the
country’s overheated political environment. After Kirk’s death, some of his
critics faced blistering criticism for making harsh comments about him.
As news of Reiner’s death spread, “liberals are desperately
searching for a prominent conservative mocking Rob Reiner and his wife
passing,” a MAGA commentator who posts as Gunther Eagleman wrote on X, a
platform where he has 1.6 million followers. Trump’s blast came nine hours
later.
“A man and his wife were murdered last night. This is NOT
the appropriate response,” wrote Jenna Ellis, a former attorney pardoned by
Trump for her involvement in efforts to overturn the 2020 election. “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.”
Others on the right, however, quickly fell in line behind
Trump. After predicting “You won’t see people on the right celebrating the
horrific murder of Rob Reiner and his wife,” Jack Posobiec (3.2 million
followers) wrote on X: “Where is the celebration in Trump’s post? He isn’t
celebrating, he is warning.”
And GOP congressional leaders, were true to form. Senate
Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) declined to comment on Trump’s
outburst, saying only: “It’s a tragedy, and my sympathies and prayers go out
the Reiner family and to their friends.”
In the holiday season, “we have to appeal to our better
angels, and I think we’ve got to amplify those voices and those sentiments,”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) told reporters on Monday. Then he
hastened down a private hallway to his office.
