HOLLYWOOD, Calif.—The world has lost an entertainment legend and Hollywood activist. Film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer, were found stabbed to death at their Brentwood home Sunday afternoon. And while many have begun to mourn, President Donald Trump has taken this moment to continue his normalizing of cruelty and hateful rhetoric.
Not 24 hours after Reiner’s death was announced, Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social, attributing—what so far seems like a baseless accusation—Reiner’s death as the result of “anger he caused others” through “TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.”
“Trump derangement syndrome” is a term used by Trump and MAGA supporters against those who express criticism of the president and his policies.
The president of the United States went on to claim that Reiner 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.”
When more details of the Reiner tragedy emerged—completely countering Trump’s Truth Social claim—the president doubled down in an interview, saying that Reiner was “very bad for our country.”
This wouldn’t be the first time Trump has shown no decorum when speaking about the deceased whom he considers his political enemies. Nor is it rare for those who are supporters of the president to show the same level of “decency” when speaking about opponents who have been victims of violence.
After the assassination of Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman in June of this year, several Republican officials and Trump supporters went online repeating misinformation and hateful rhetoric. Some claimed that the House Democratic caucus leader, who was killed alongside her husband, was the target of “the left” and that “the far left is murderously violent.”
Republican Sen. Mike Lee tweeted about the incident on the platform X multiple times, claiming that the suspect was a “Marxist,” blaming the assassination on Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Right-wing social media influencer Mike Cernovich, who has over 1.5 million followers, suggested that Walz ordered the assassination himself. Right-wing media personality and former Trump confidant Laura Loomer called the Democratic Party a “terrorist organization” and claimed that the killer was a protester from the “No Kings” marches.
In reality, all signs pointed to the murderer being Vance Luther Boelter, who was described by an associate as “a conservative who voted for President Donald Trump and was strongly against abortion rights.” Boelter was taken into custody and charged with the murders, yet no one on the far right who contributed to the misinformation offered a retraction or apology.
In light of Trump’s recent Truth Social post, some Republicans have publicly rebuked the president’s words.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., called the comments “inappropriate and disrespectful.”
“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,” Massie said.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a once loyal ally of Trump, said the deaths of Reiner and his wife are “a family tragedy” and “not about politics or political enemies.”
“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,” Greene said, referring to Reiner’s son, Nick Reiner, who’s being taken into custody for the killings. “Many families deal with a family member with drug addiction and mental health issues. It’s incredibly difficult and should be met with empathy, especially when it ends in murder.”
Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., also condemned the president’s words, writing in a post on X that the statement was “wrong.”
“Regardless of one’s political views, no one should be subjected to violence, let alone at the hands of their own son,” Lawler said. “It’s a horrible tragedy that should engender sympathy and compassion from everyone in our country, period.”
But while words like “sympathy” and “compassion,” along with sentiments that this tragedy isn’t about “political enemies,” come from those on the right willing to disavow the president’s words, the Republican Party’s actions as a whole tell a different story.
Millions of Americans are facing steeply rising costs for needed health care as the Republican-controlled Senate voted just days ago to reject health care bills offered by both parties. The Republican Party’s inability to vote on a road forward for the Affordable Care Act increases the likelihood that ACA subsidies passed in 2021 will expire at the end of this year. This will result in health care premiums doubling for nearly 24 million Americans who rely on the funding.
Essentially, the new year will see many Americans priced out of getting the health care they need, potentially leading to an increase of death and sickness. One could argue that Republicans allowing this to happen lack “sympathy” and “compassion.”
And while there have been those on the right who have come out swiftly to criticize Trump’s words against Reiner, there has been a deafening silence when it comes to his brazen recent hateful rhetoric against the Somali immigrant community.
In a televised meeting of his cabinet recently, Trump said he does not want Somali immigrants in the country, asserting that they should “go back to where they came from.”
Rebuking any notion of being “politically correct,” the president said, “I don’t want them in our country, I’ll be honest with you.” He said the U.S. would continue to “go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country.”
Trump went on to claim that, “With Somalia, which is barely a country, you know, they have no, they have no anything. They just run around killing each other. There’s no structure.”
There was no swift condemnation at that meeting, as Vice President JD Vance readily agreed, and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called Trump’s remarks an “epic moment.”
It should then come as no surprise that Trump would spend more time characterizing the deceased Charlie Kirk, who was also known to speak racist, hateful rhetoric (and despised the word empathy), as a patriotic hero, over someone like Rob Reiner, who devoted most of his adult life to causes for freedom and justice.
Many may know Reiner for his time starring on the poignant and socially progressive comedy All in the Family and his hit directorial features, such as The Princess Bride, Stand by Me, Misery, and A Few Good Men. What they may not know is his involvement in a number of organizations and movements supporting the LGBTQ community and championing early childhood education.
Reiner was a co-founder of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which helped to initiate the court challenge to Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in the state. In 1998, Reiner was chair of the campaign to pass Proposition 10, the California Children and Families Initiative, which created First 5 California, a program of early childhood development services funded by a tax on tobacco products.
In the midst of all this, and perhaps most upsetting to the president, Reiner remained an outspoken critic of the Trump administration. In a 2017 interview, Reiner said Trump was “mentally unfit” to be president and that “Donald Trump is the single-most unqualified human being to ever assume the presidency of the United States.
He warned, “Our democracy is being taken away from us.” On MSNBC in October, Reiner asserted in reference to Trump’s presidency, “We’re sliding downhill in a very, very fast way, and we have to find a way to stop it.”
The national progressive advocacy organization People For the American Way, founded by Reiner’s friend and colleague Norman Lear, said in a statement released on Monday: “Rob Reiner was committed to using his creative brilliance not only to entertain people, but also to promote the values of freedom, fairness, and justice. Rob loved our country, and he supported artists and activists who work to defend and strengthen what is best about it.”
Trump’s recent social media rant will be added to the countless ones before it that will be forgotten with the next news cycle, but many around the country will continue to mourn an activist who stood in stark contrast to the president. One who used his art and influence for progress instead of harm.
As with all op-eds and news analytical articles published by People’s World, the views reflected here are those of the author.
We hope you appreciated this article. At People’s World, we believe news and information should be free and accessible to all, but we need your help. Our journalism is free of corporate influence and paywalls because we are totally reader-supported. Only you, our readers and supporters, make this possible. If you enjoy reading People’s World and the stories we bring you, please support our work by donating or becoming a monthly sustainer today.
CONTRIBUTOR
