President Donald Trump has once again crossed a line that even many of his staunchest supporters find impossible to justify. This time, it’s over the tragic deaths of Hollywood icon Rob Reiner, 78, and his wife Michele Singer Reiner, 68, who were fatally stabbed at their Los Angeles home Sunday.
The couple’s son, Nick Reiner, 32, has been arrested and is “responsible” for their deaths, according to LAPD detectives. Reports indicate he had argued with his father at a Christmas party hosted by Conan O’Brien the night before the murders and fled to a Santa Monica hotel, where blood stains were discovered.
In the wake of this devastating tragedy, tributes poured in for the Reiners—but Trump chose to exploit the situation. On Truth Social, he blamed the deaths on what he called “TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME,” igniting an immediate and fierce backlash.
Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, a long-time critic of Trump, called the post “loathsome” and “hateful and vile.” Michelle Obama revealed she and former President Barack Obama had been planning to have dinner with the Reiners on Sunday.
Trump’s own niece, Mary Trump, was scathing in her condemnation. “Michele and Rob Reiner were the best of us,” she wrote. “Every day, Donald continues to prove that he will always get worse.” She continued in a blog post: “Once again, you have gone out of your way to prove, to anyone who doesn’t already know, that you are a depraved, deviant, damaged little man who cannot bear the thought that there are people in this world who are talented, valued, and loved—three things you are not. You cannot stomach the thought that anybody else, for any reason, would take the spotlight.”
Even former allies are turning on him. In his Truth Social post Monday, Trump suggested the Reiners’ deaths were tied to Robert Reiner’s “paranoia” and “obsession” with him. Critics—including former MAGA stalwart Marjorie Taylor Greene—called the remarks “inappropriate” and “disgraceful,” demanding that the post be removed.
Trump wrote: “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 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. May Rob and Michele rest in peace!”
When pressed at the White House, Trump doubled down rather than apologize.
Jimmy Kimmel didn’t hold back:
“Just when you think he can’t go any lower, he somehow finds a way to do that. It’s so hateful and vile. When I first saw it, I thought it was fake. My wife showed it to me this morning. I was like, well, even for him that seemed like too much, but nothing is ever too much for him. Maybe the craziest part, then he goes about his day celebrating Christmas of all things. This is how he behaves at Christmas time.”
The fallout is showing cracks in what was once an unshakable MAGA base. A recent NBC News Decision Desk poll shows support for Trump among MAGA Republicans has dropped from 78 percent in April to 70 percent. Mainstream GOP support has also fallen from 38 percent to 35 percent. Even the number of self-identified MAGA Republicans has slipped from 57 percent to 50 percent.
Scandals—from Epstein investigations to rising costs of living—have compounded his image problems. The president’s high-profile defections continue, with Marjorie Taylor Greene openly criticizing him, calling out GOP members who have “mocked the president behind his back long before he won the 2024 primary.”
For a man who built his political identity on ruthlessness and spectacle, Trump has now proven that there’s no low he won’t reach. Attacking a murdered couple to defend his fragile ego is beyond political theater—it’s moral bankruptcy. And as his base begins to notice, the question is no longer whether Trump will sink further, but whether even they will follow him into the moral abyss.
