President Trump is facing backlash from both ends of the political spectrum for his response to the killings of director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner, with some critics arguing the president’s words were particularly troublesome in the wake of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
While Trump’s comments are unlikely to harm him much politically, they have caused unease among Republicans, who view them as tasteless, and anger among Democrats, who pointed to the administration’s threats against those who publicly celebrated Kirk’s killing in September.
In a bizarre Truth Social post, Trump blamed the Reiners’ deaths on “Trump derangement syndrome,” arguing the killings were somehow linked to the Democratic activist’s criticism of Trump.
After those comments sparked backlash from Republicans, Trump doubled down, saying he thought Rob Reiner was “very bad for our country.”
Prominent Trump critics on the right, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), were among the first to condemn his remarks. However, he also faced backlash from his conservative supporters on Capitol Hill and in the MAGA universe, some of whom knew Kirk personally.
“As conservatives we just rolled out one of the most horrific things that happened to our movement, which is the murder of Charlie Kirk,” said CNN commentator Scott Jennings, one of the few defenders of the president on the network.
“I have been very critical of everybody who has celebrated that murder, the thousands and thousands of liberals who celebrated that, they shouldn’t have done that either,” he continued. “In this particular case, putting it in your pocket would have been the right thing to do.”
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Many of Trump’s critics were quick to point out a Monday post on the social platform X from Andrew Kolvet, the executive producer of “The Charlie Kirk Show,” in which he praised Reiner’s response to Kirk’s death, prior to Trump’s post.
“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,” Kolvet wrote, including a link to Reiner’s comments.
Conservative commentator Erick Erickson in a post on X wrote, “All those people who lost their jobs for their disgusting tweets about Charlie Kirk’s assassination are staring at the President of the United States’s social media account in disbelief.”
Democrats also pointed out the contradiction.
“The death of Rob and Michele Reiner is shocking and tragic. But instead of offering condolences, Donald Trump is openly celebrating their death because of their political views — the exact same behavior that Republicans complained about after Charlie Kirk’s assassination,” said Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), who is running for the Senate.
Trump’s supporters, who criticized his reaction to Reiner’s death, also noted that it distracted from his agenda. Republican donor Dan Eberhart said the comments also distract from policy areas Trump could be improving on.
“Every minute he’s not focused on affordability is a moment we are losing votes in the midterms,” Eberhart said.
Trump’s former acting chief of staff and Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, who is also a political and economic contributor to NewsNation, compared Trump’s comments to disparaging remarks he made about Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). Trump made light of McCain’s time as a prisoner of war and issued a bland statement after McCain’s death from brain cancer in 2018.
“I don’t get it. This is sort of like the John McCain thing. There isn’t one single person in this country who is going to think more favorably of him because he attacked Reiner,” Mulvaney told The Hill.
“But there will be folks who think less of him. That includes voters, and elected members of his own party. And heading into the midterms, that isn’t a good formula. He needs to fix it. Or move on. Quickly,” he said.
Despite the backlash, Trump dug in on his comments when pressed by reporters on Monday afternoon.
“I wasn’t a fan of his at all. He was a deranged person as far as Trump is concerned,” Trump said in the Oval Office, referring to Reiner.
While the unnamed source close to the White House condemned Trump’s remarks, they explained how polarization has made the president “desensitized” to his political opponents.
“President Trump has been at the epicenter of polarization — both as a victim of it and, at times, a contributor to it — and I believe this has desensitized him to his opponents,” the source said.
“Anyone who truly knows him understands how deeply he sympathizes with others. It is unfortunate that comments which will live on indefinitely may prevent people from ever seeing the side of him that those closest to him know well.”
Brett Samuels contributed to this story.
