President Trump drew unexpected backlash within the conservative camp after posting a mocking message about film director Rob Reiner's killing. Reiner had long been a leading liberal figure who strongly criticized the Trump administration and the Republican Party. But immediately after news of his death broke, Trump mocked him as "a victim of Trump derangement syndrome," prompting criticism even from within the "MAGA (Make America Great Again)" base that had defended Trump, saying "there should be exceptions for family tragedies unrelated to politics." Reiner and his wife Michelle Reiner were recently found dead at their Los Angeles home, and their son Nick was arrested on suspicion of murder.
According to Axios on the 15th (local time), MAGA figures initially reacted with relative restraint. Because left-wing supporters had drawn a sharp backlash for their mockery after the Charlie Kirk assassination in Sep., there was a shared stance this time of "we will not celebrate the death of the other camp." Some conservative commentators recalled the response then and stressed, "Unlike the left, we will maintain decorum."
However, the tone shifted dramatically when President Trump posted a lengthy message the next morning on social media (SNS) mocking Reiner. Trump claimed Reiner "was so obsessed with the success of the Trump administration that he spread anger toward others," describing it as a mentally disordered fixation.
Trump's message prompted open discomfort even among key Republican lawmakers. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said, "It was highly inappropriate to use this as material for a political attack when a family is suffering a tragedy." Greene is considered a hard-liner close to Trump, but in this instance she drew a line, saying, "Regardless of Reiner's political stance, we needed to respect a human tragedy." Trump's former attorney Jenna Ellis also criticized him, saying, "A president who has experienced two assassination attempts should have responded to such an incident with greater caution." It is rare for Republicans to issue public rebukes of Trump.
Even so, some MAGA supporters vigorously defended Trump. They emphasized that Reiner had been a leading figure attacking Trump for more than the past 10 years and argued, "Since the other side has carried out political attacks first, Trump has no reason to be polite." Conservative columnist Kurt Schlichter defended Trump, saying, "He was someone who relentlessly attacked Trump for the past 10 years. It is hypocritical to criticize Trump for not being polite enough."
But there was also analysis that this controversy could damage MAGA's strategy of claiming moral high ground. Since the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, MAGA has gone on the offensive by criticizing the left for a culture of mocking or inciting political violence. The Trump administration even took a hard-line measure by canceling the visa of a non-U.S. citizen suspected of celebrating Kirk's death. In this context, Trump's mocking response raised concerns it could invite a counterattack of "whataboutism."
Political commentators noted the incident could again build fatigue within the Republican Party over President Trump's manner of speaking. They said that while Trump still has a highly loyal base, calibrating the response level to tragic events is necessary to keep the increasingly broad Republican coalition united.
Axios predicted that while the Reiner couple's deaths are currently investigating, Trump's mockery of them is likely to remain controversial as the presidential race unfolds.