Some of MAGA world’s most fervently white nationalist and right-wing figures have condemned President Donald Trump for gloating about the murders of Hollywood director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner.
Nick Fuentes, a podcaster who has praised Adolf Hitler, described the president’s response to the Reiners’ killings as “evil.”
“This is ugly rhetoric. It is ugly, it is actually evil,” Fuentes said Monday. “Forget for a moment that we are in a war — someone gets murdered by their son, it’s a horrific tragedy. This is a horrible story, and nobody deserves that. I don’t care what their politics are.”
Fuentes added that he could “overlook the fact that [Trump] is a douchebag" if the president was doing better in his second term.
The Reiners were found fatally stabbed at their Los Angeles home Sunday. Their son, Nick Reiner, 32, who has a long history of drug abuse, was subsequently arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
The couple supported Democratic and liberal causes, and Rob Reiner was a frequent critic of Trump, which the president seized upon in the wake of the murders.
Trump posted on his Truth Social social media platform Monday that Reiner and his wife died "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."
"He 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," Trump wrote. "May Rob and Michele rest in peace!"
The post was met with sweeping backlash including from some of Trump’s formerly most stalwart supporters.
"Rob Reiner and his wife were tragically killed at the hands of their own son, who reportedly had drug addiction and other issues, and their remaining children are left in serious mourning and heartbreak. This is a family tragedy, not about politics or political enemies," wrote Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has split with the president on a number of issues in recent months.
Greene noted that many families have someone dealing with addiction or mental health issues, and said that "it’s incredibly difficult and should be met with empathy especially when it ends in murder."
Far-right podcaster Matt Walsh called Trump’s comments "ridiculous low-class, gross behavior."
"It's grotesque. It's stupid. It's wrong. It's all those things," Walsh said.
When pressed by reporters Monday about his comments, Trump doubled down. "I think [Reiner] hurt himself in—career-wise. He became like a deranged person—Trump derangement syndrome. 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," the president said.
While some prominent voices on the right took issue, others either conveniently ignored Trump’s comment or backed him up.
“I don’t do ongoing commentary about everything that’s said by everybody in government every day,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters when asked about Trump’s remarks on the Reiners. “We are trying to bring down health care costs for the American people. They’re very important votes, very important issues, and that’s what we’re focused on.”
Johnson was asked again during a CNBC interview about Trump’s comments, and replied that it was “not the way I would have done it, I don’t know what else I can say.”
Conservative author and anti-DEI activist Chris Rufo advised "intellectual" Republicans to ignore Trump’s comments and focus on his policies.
"Trump's Rob Reiner tweet is awful, but this tic is baked into his personality and no amount of media outrage will change it, so most of the intellectuals on the Right will simply ignore it and focus on policy, which is a sensible course of action," Rufo wrote on X. "This is the Dao of Trumpism."
Conservative author and columnist Kurt Schlichter called those complaining about Trump’s rhetoric "fake."
"It's pretty pathetic to be so fake and fussy because Trump was insufficiently cordial to a guy who targeted him for nonstop bile for the last decade," Schlichter wrote on X. "There's one set of rules."
Islamophobe Laura Loomer used the opportunity to denounce Rob Reiner and defend the president.
“Naturally, [Reiner's] son was also a loser, and he got addicted to drugs and allegedly murdered his parents,” she wrote. “Looks like Rob should’ve spent more time parenting & less time spreading Russia conspiracy hoaxes about President Trump. I stand with President Trump.”
Tributes to the beloved Hollywood director, who was behind such classic movies as "When Harry Met Sally...” and "A Few Good Men," and his wife, have poured in from friends and colleagues, but also across the political spectrum including from three former presidents.
Former President Barack Obama remembered Reiner in a social media post, noting that on top of his accomplishments in Hollywood, the director had a “a deep belief in the goodness of people—and a lifelong commitment to putting that belief into action.”
“Together, he and his wife lived lives defined by purpose. They will be remembered for the values they championed and the countless people they inspired. We send our deepest condolences to all who loved them,” Obama wrote.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama told Jimmy Kimmel on his late-night show Monday that she and her husband were supposed to have dinner with the Reiners on the day they were found dead.
A joint statement issued by the Reiners’ close friends, including Larry David, Billy Crystal, and Martin Short, remembered the director for his creativity, passion for storytelling, and ability to elevate the creative people working with him.
“His comedic touch was beyond compare, his love of getting the music of the dialogue just right, and his sharpening of the edge of a drama was simply elegant,” the statement said. “For the actors, he loved them. For the writers, he made them better.”
The couple’s two other children, Jake and Romy Reiner, also released a statement which shared their heartbreak.
“Words cannot even begin to describe the unimaginable pain we are experiencing every moment of the day. The horrific and devastating loss of our parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, is something that no one should ever experience,” the statement read.
“They weren’t just our parents; they were our best friends.”
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