President Donald Trump posted a Truth Social message on Monday morning that appeared to blame filmmaker Rob Reiner for his own murder.
In the post, Trump claimed the prolific director had “driven people CRAZY” with what he called “Trump derangement syndrome,” prompting fans, critics, and even a handful of Republicans to condemn the remarks as cruel and dangerous.
The comments came just one day after Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were found stabbed to death in their Los Angeles home.
Donald Trump blames "Trump Derangement Syndrome" for Rob Reiner's death
After their daughter discovered the bodies of Rob and Michele Singer Reiner in their L.A. home on Sunday, Trump issued his thoughts on his social media platform the following day.
"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, sometimes referred to as TDS," he wrote.
The Hollywood couple had multiple stab wounds and the police are investigating this as a homicide, but have said nothing to suggest political motivations. PEOPLE claimed some anonymous sources told them Nick Reiner, the couple's son, is the culprit. Police reportedly arrested Nick, and a judge has set bail at $4 million.
Regardless, Trump went on to further victim-blame the director of The Princess Bride.
"He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before," he said. "May Rob and Michele rest in peace!"
Reiner spent much of Trump's political career speaking out against his policies and behavior. During his first term, he called the President "mentally unstable" and accused him of treason over his alleged relationship with Russia.
"He had less words for the mass shooting at Brown"
Fellow Trump critics are continuing Reiner's legacy by expressing their anger over the President's latest insulting social media post. Trump is no stranger to lashing out at the recently dead, but this one seems worse than usual, and Reiner has many fans.
Some turned Trump's words back around on him.
"Trump implying that one of his supporters murdered Rob Reiner for criticizing him is really something," @MikeDrucker remarked on X.
"He had less words for the mass shooting at Brown," @MidnightMonaye pointed out. "Someone needs to take his social media privileges away asap."
Acclaimed author and X poster Joyce Carol Oates, meanwhile, wrote: "How strange is it, how contrary to expectations, that our most literate presidents lived in the 18th century; our most recently elected 21st century president is barely literate, with the vocabulary of a three-year-old & the atrophied prefrontal cortex of a nasty person who has outlived his time."
Others compared this Trump reaction to the one following the death of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. Popular X user @mattxiv asked if the President will "be losing his job for celebrating the murder of someone with whom he disagreed."
At the same time, @andorlorians remembered when "people were doxxed and fired for not complying with the Government Mandated Podcaster Mourning Period."
"Beyond despicable," wrote @smclaughlin9.
On the more serious side, rare Republican Trump critic Rep. Thomas Massie disapproved of his party leader's message.
"Regardless of how you felt about Rob Reiner, this is inappropriate and disrespectful discourse about a man who was just brutally murdered," he said. "I guess my elected GOP colleagues, the VP, and White House staff will just ignore it because they’re afraid?"
Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has seemingly turned against the president in recent months, also criticized Trump's message, writing on X, "This is a family tragedy, not about politics or political enemies."
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