New Delhi: President Donald Trump is facing a bitter backlash from all quarters after he ridiculed late Hollywood actor and director Rob Reiner on social media, implying that Reiner and his wife’s murder was brought on by his outspoken opposition to Trump.
Reiner, 78, a veteran Hollywood filmmaker and longtime Democratic activist, and his wife, Michele Reiner, 70, were found dead in their home on Sunday. Their son, Nick Reiner, was arrested on homicide charges. Police have not disclosed a motive yet.
In his post, Trump said: “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… He was known to have driven people crazy by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump….”
Trump’s remarks brought on immediate criticism. Former California Governor and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s son actor Patrick Schwarzenegger called the post “disgusting and vile,” while Reiner’s friend and colleague actor Whoopi Goldberg said: “I don’t understand the man in the White House.”
What a disgusting and vile statement. https://t.co/Bdv6qI38ee
— Patrick Schwarzenegger (@PSchwarzenegger) December 15, 2025
California Governor Gavin Newsom described Trump as “a sick man,” and Democratic Representative Maxwell Alejandro Frost described the comments as “despicable”.
This is a sick man. https://t.co/l0TS2PhFlZ
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) December 15, 2025
Even several Republicans have distanced themselves from Trump’s comment. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia said the deaths were “a family tragedy, not about politics”; and Thomas Massie of Kentucky called the post “inappropriate and disrespectful”.
Reiner’s history as a Trump critic
Reiner had been among Trump’s most vocal critics in Hollywood, frequently accusing him of dictatorial tendencies, democratic backsliding and questioning his fitness for office. He campaigned for Democratic candidates, condemned Trump’s alleged role in the Capitol riot, and often mocked Trump on social media.
He endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2008, opposing Trump’s leadership after 2016, describing him as “racist, sexist, anti-gay, and antisemitic”.
Reiner called Trump “the single most unqualified human being to ever assume the presidency of the United States”.
In October, during a discussion on an MSNBC show, he said: “Make no mistake. We have a year before this country becomes a full-on autocracy and democracy completely leaves us.”
In the Daily Beast‘s podcast ‘The Last Laugh’, Reiner compared America’s political climate to that of Nazi Germany.
Rob Reiner, known for directing films such as ‘When Harry Met Sally’ and ‘A Few Good Men’, was also an advocate for civil rights.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
Also read: Bondi beach shooter moved to Australia from Hyderabad in 1998, son Australian citizen by birth