While The World Grieves Rob Reiner, Trump Politicizes Another Death to Feed His Own Ego

On December 14th, 2025 American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and political activist Rob Reiner was murdered along with his wife Michele in their Brentwood home in Los Angeles, California. Their daughter was the one that discovered their bodies after they had sustained fatal stab wounds. The following day their son, Nick Reiner was booked for the murders.

Many are citing Nick Reiner’s long-standing struggle with mental health issues and addiction as potential causes for the horrific acts.

From Stephen King adaptations like Stand By Me and Misery to tentpole classics like A Few Good Men and The Princess Bride, Rob Reiner’s stacked career touched the lives of millions. His latest film, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues is the long-awaited sequel to his 1984 original, the premiere of which he attended three months before his death.

Not only was Reiner one of the most influential filmmakers of all time, but he was also a very involved political activist and advocate for human rights, showing up in solidarity at protests over the years while never missing the opportunity to speak on the issues he cared about. He even used his skill as a filmmaker to create documentary content addressing the current political climate. He produced the 2024 documentary God & Country detailing the rise of Christian Nationalism and its relationship with far-right politics and its perceived threat to American democracy. He was also on record talking about working on a docu-series titled The Spy and The Asset covering Donald Trump’s close and corrupt relationship with Vladimir Putin and his collusion with the state of Russia.

The When Harry Met Sally director was always a staunch critic of the current president of the United States, regularly condemning him for his racism and inhumanity. So in the wake of Reiner’s death, while many of his colleagues expressed their grief while celebrating the life and career of the legendary filmmaker, Donald Trump took to Truth Social to once gain chose to make a terrible moment of tragedy a means to feed his own ego with contempt.

Trump suggested that the murder of Reiner and his wife was a result of the “anger” Reiner caused with his “Trump Derangement Syndrome” — a made-up affliction created by the president to circumvent any accountability or criticism for his own actions. Instead of approaching the tragedy with grace, Trump chose to lead with hatred, blaming Reiner for his own death while labelling him mentally-ill because Rob Reiner chose not to bow to a tyrant. Rob Reiner chose to do what he routinely did throughout his life, stand up for what he believed in no matter the cost while using kindness and understanding to do so.

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