Trump draws backlash after linking Rob Reiner’s murder to politics

The killing of filmmaker Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Reiner, has taken a sharp political turn after US President Donald Trump publicly suggested that Reiner’s opposition to him somehow contributed to the couple’s deaths, remarks that have sparked bipartisan condemnation.

Reiner, 78, and his wife, Michele, 70, were found dead at their Los Angeles home on Sunday in what police are investigating as a double homicide. Their son, Nick Reiner, has since been arrested on homicide charges, according to US media reports.

Best known for directing films such as When Harry Met Sally, The Princess Bride and This Is Spinal Tap, Reiner was also a longtime Democratic Party supporter and one of Trump’s most outspoken Hollywood critics. During Trump’s first term, he frequently described the president as “mentally unfit” and “unqualified” to hold office.

On Monday, Trump appeared to reference that history in a Truth Social post that many critics described as callous and inflammatory. The president referred to Reiner as “tortured and struggling” and said he and his wife had died “reportedly due to the anger he caused” by opposing Trump as president.

“He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump,” Trump wrote, offering no evidence to support any link between Reiner’s political views and the killings.

The comments immediately drew sharp criticism across the political spectrum, including from several Republicans.

New York Congressman Mike Lawler called the post “wrong”, writing that “regardless of one’s political views, no one should be subjected to violence”. Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie described Trump’s remarks as “inappropriate and disrespectful discourse about a man who was just brutally murdered”.

Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, once one of Trump’s strongest allies, urged empathy instead of political point-scoring.

“This is a family tragedy, not about politics or political enemies,” she wrote, pointing to reports that the couple’s son had struggled with addiction and mental health issues.

Oklahoma Congresswoman Stephanie Bice echoed that sentiment, saying:

“We should be lifting the family up in prayer, not making this about politics.”

Other critics were more blunt. Nebraska Congressman Don Bacon told CNN he would expect such comments “from a drunk guy at a bar, not the president of the United States”. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said Trump had “lost it”, accusing him of suggesting the couple “caused their own murder because they didn’t support him”.

Outside Congress, former Obama strategist David Axelrod described Trump’s post as “perverse”, adding that “the absence of empathy & grace for the Reiner family in their moment of profound loss and grief is sad and revealing”. British journalist Piers Morgan also weighed in, calling the remark “a dreadful thing to say about a man who was just murdered” and urging Trump to delete it.

Police have not indicated any political motive in the killings, and investigators have not commented publicly on the circumstances beyond confirming the homicide investigation and the arrest of the couple’s son.