Patrick Schwarzenegger has become the latest celebrity to call out US President Donald Trump for his controversial comments regarding the death of director Rob Reiner.
After the bodies of Reiner, 78, and his wife Michele, 68, were discovered at their Brentwood home in Los Angeles on Sunday, Trump took to social media with an unusually cold and dismissive statement about the late director.
Trump referred to Reiner as “tortured and struggling” before suggesting that his death was the result of “anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind-crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.” The comment drew sharp criticism from many, especially as it was made just after the tragic discovery of the couple’s deaths.
In a later conversation with reporters, Trump said, “I wasn’t a fan of his at all, he was a deranged person as far as Trump is concerned… He hurt himself career-wise, he became like a deranged person,” while also boasting about his own administration’s accomplishments, reported Politico.
Patrick Schwarzenegger didn’t hold back in his response, describing the remarks as “disgusting and vile.” His mother, Maria Shriver, who had been a close family friend of the Reiners for years, also condemned Trump’s comments. She labelled them as lacking in “basic human decency” and expressed her disgust at the president’s failure to show any compassion in the wake of such a tragic event.
Other celebrities were quick to criticise Trump’s insensitive remarks. Josh Gad, Jack White, and Whoopi Goldberg all took to social media to express their outrage. Goldberg, on The View, said, “I don’t understand the man in that White House. Because he talks so much about Charlie Kirk and caring, and suddenly this is what he puts out. Have you no shame? No shame at all? Can you get any lower? I don’t think so.”
Lawmakers also joined in on the backlash. Democrat Maxwell Alejandro Frost called Trump a “despicable piece of garbage,” while Republican Thomas Massie labelled the remarks “inappropriate and disrespectful” towards a man who had been brutally murdered. California Governor Gavin Newsom also weighed in, calling Trump “a sick man.”
Rob Reiner had long been an outspoken critic of Trump. He frequently labelled the president as “mentally unfit” for office and warned of the dangers of autocracy should Trump win a second term.
It’s important to note that the couple’s 32-year-old son, Nick Reiner, was arrested on Monday on suspicion of murdering his parents. His bail has been set at $4 million.
