President Donald Trump has drawn rare backlash from within his own political movement after mocking filmmaker and longtime liberal activist Rob Reiner following Reiner’s killing, breaking with calls for restraint and compassion from prominent MAGA voices.
The controversy erupted after Trump took to Truth Social on Monday morning, a day after Reiner and his wife, Michele, were found dead in their Los Angeles home. Rather than offering condolences, Trump framed Reiner’s death through a political lens, ridiculing him as a victim of what he called “Trump derangement syndrome.”
“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,” Trump wrote. He added that Reiner’s obsession with Trump had driven people “CRAZY,” while praising what he described as the Trump administration’s “Golden Age of America.”
The post stunned parts of the MAGA ecosystem, particularly because many right-wing influencers had pledged not to mock or celebrate the deaths of political opponents after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk earlier this year. Trump’s remarks were widely seen as abandoning that moral high ground.
When news of Reiner’s death first broke Sunday night, several MAGA figures struck a noticeably different tone. Podcaster Jack Posobiec wrote that conservatives would not celebrate the “horrific murder” of Reiner and his wife, contrasting that response with what he described as left-wing reactions to Kirk’s killing. Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet shared a clip of Reiner responding with “grace and compassion” to Kirk’s death, calling the tragedy all the more painful in light of that response.
That moment of unity quickly fractured after Trump’s post.
Republican lawmakers and former Trump allies were among those publicly criticizing the president for politicizing what authorities are treating as a family tragedy. Reiner’s son, Nick Reiner, has since been arrested in connection with the deaths, with reports citing struggles with drug addiction and other issues.
“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,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) wrote. “This is a family tragedy, not about politics or political enemies.”
Jenna Ellis, Trump’s former lawyer, was even more blunt. “A man and his wife were murdered last night. This is NOT the appropriate response,” she wrote, adding that the right had rightly condemned celebratory reactions to Charlie Kirk’s death and that Trump’s post should be “condemned by everyone with any decency,” especially given the attempts on Trump’s own life.
Reiner, a successful comedian, actor and director, had been one of Trump’s most vocal Hollywood critics, repeatedly warning that Trump was leading the country toward “full-on autocracy.” That history has led some MAGA figures to defend Trump’s comments.
Columnist Kurt Schlichter argued that outrage over Trump’s tone was misplaced, writing that it was “pathetic” to demand courtesy for someone who had spent years attacking Trump, adding, “There’s one set of rules.”
The episode underscores a growing tension within MAGA following Charlie Kirk’s assassination on September 10. In its aftermath, the movement sought to present itself as morally restrained, warning of political violence and condemning celebrations of death. Thousands of social media users were reported for mocking Kirk’s killing, with some losing their jobs. The Trump administration even revoked visas of non-citizens accused of celebrating the murder.
Trump’s response to Reiner’s death, however, has complicated that narrative — exposing a rare and uncomfortable rift between the former president and parts of his own base.