What did Trump say about Rob Reiner?

President Donald Trump mocked Rob Reiner in a post on social media Monday, suggesting the slain actor and director died because of his anti-Trump views — a statement that sparked an immediate bipartisan response to injecting politics into a family tragedy.

Reiner, 78, and his wife Michele, 70, were found dead in their home on Sunday. Their son Nick Reiner was arrested on suspicion of murder. Police have yet to say why.

In a statement posted by Social Truth, Trump described Rob Reiner as “tortured and struggling” and said Reiner and his wife died “as a result of his alleged anger” against the Republican president.

“It was known that he drove people crazy with his angry desire for President Donald J. Trump,” the president said.

The White House reposted Trump’s comments on his official “Quick Response” account for X.

The president, who regularly insults his opponents and praises celebrities who support him, has offered no evidence that Reiner’s political views played a role in the couple’s death.

Trump’s remarks on Monday drew criticism from all political circles.

“No matter how you feel about Rob Reiner, this is an inappropriate and disrespectful statement about a man who was brutally murdered,” wrote Republican US Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky.

“This is a family tragedy, not a political or political enemy,” wrote Republican U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.

Both Massie and Greene are Trump critics, a rarity in the president’s party.

But even House Speaker Mike Johnson, a close friend of Trump, distanced himself from the presidency. “We have to appeal to our good angels, and I think we have to raise those voices and those feelings. So that’s where I stand,” he told reporters when asked about Trump’s comments.

Asked in the Oval Office if he would stand by the post after Republican criticism, Trump replied that he was not a fan of Reiner.

Reiner told Variety in 2017 during Trump’s first term that Trump was “not mentally fit” and called him “the most unfit human being to ever hold the presidency of the United States.”

Trump said in his post on Monday that Reiner had “TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME,” a term the president uses for many of his critics.

The Democratic Party called Trump’s post “disingenuous.”

David Axelrod, a former adviser to President Barack Obama, called it twisted. “The lack of compassion & grace for the Reiner family in their time of deep loss and grief is sad and revealing,” wrote X.

Republicans and Trump supporters have sharply criticized anyone who shed light on the controversial views of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk since his murder in September.—Reuters