U.S. President Donald Trump looks on before departing for the Army/Navy football game in Baltimore, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., December 13, 2025. REUTERS/Aaron Schwartz
FILE PHOTO: Director Rob Reiner poses at the premiere for "LBJ" in Los Angeles, California, U.S., October 24, 2017. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
A number of influential right-wing figures are outraged after President Donald Trump issued a “disgusting” attack on Hollywood icon Rob Reiner just hours after the discovery of the director's and his wife’s deaths, which law enforcement is investigating as a homicide.
“Disgusting statement,” wrote Robby Soave, a conservative libertarian journalist with The Hill who’s previously lavished praise on Trump and advocated for him to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, in a social media post on X.
Both Reiner and his wife were found dead Sunday in their California home with apparent stab wounds. Their son, 32-year-old Nick Reiner, was arrested Monday and held on a $4 million bail. He has reportedly been charge with murder.
For Trump, however, news of Reiner’s death was an opportunity to attack the filmmaker – long a vocal critic of the president. In a Truth Social post, he suggested that Reiner’s death was caused by “the anger he caused” over his “mind crippling disease known as Trump derangement syndrome.”
The blowback from Trump’s attack was so immense that even some of his most diehard supporters came out against him.
“What happened last night to Rob Reiner and his wife was a savage butchering of 2 human lives,” wrote right-wing influencer Robby Starbuck, who’s amassed more than 850,000 followers on X and has become an influential figure in the MAGA movement.
“I don’t care what their politics were or how they felt about Trump, no law abiding human deserves this. We should pray for + send condolences to his loved ones and NOT make it political.”
British journalist and broadcaster Piers Morgan, who’s also lavished praise on Trump in the past, outright called for the president to “delete” his social media post.
“This is a dreadful thing to say about a man who just got murdered by his troubled son,” Morgan wrote in a social media post on X, though the son has not been found guilty of the crime. “Delete it, Mr President.”
Even Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who had been arguably Trump’s most-loyal ally in Congress for years before their public spat last month, responded to Trump’s attack with disdain.
“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 wrote in a social media post on X.
“This is a family tragedy, not about politics or political enemies. 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.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, those not associated with the MAGA movement or Trump were more blunt with their condemnations.
“This is a sick man,” wrote California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
And actor, singer and comedian Josh Gad, in a social media post on Threads, took Trump’s attack to heart and delivered a brutal check on the president’s moral character.
“There is no low that is too low for this psychopath,” Gad wrote. “Rob Reiner was 1000 times the man you are and unlike you, he actually cared about the American people. Go paint your hand on your gold toilet and destroy things like the White House. That’s what you do best.”