Trump levels political attack on Rob Reiner in inflammatory post after his killing
WASHINGTON AP President Donald Trump on Monday blamed Rob Reiner s outspoken opposition to the president for the actor-director s killing delivering the unsubstantiated claim in a shocking post that seemed intent on decrying his opponents even in the face of a tragedy The declaration even for Trump was a shocking comment that came as police were still analyzing the deaths of the beloved director and his wife Michele Singer Reiner as an apparent homicide The couple were identified dead at their home Sunday in Los Angeles Investigators believe they suffered stab wounds and the couple s son Nick Reiner was in police custody early Monday Trump has a long track record of inflammatory remarks but his comments in a social media post were a drastic departure from the role presidents typically play in offering a message of consolation or tribute after the death of a masses figure His message drew criticism even from conservatives and his supporters and laid bare Trump s unwillingness to rise above political grievance in moments of predicament Trump in a post on his social media setup noted Reiner and his wife were killed reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive unyielding and incurable affliction with a mind crippling ailment known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME He stated Reiner 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 The president did not mention his personal connection to Reiner s wife who was a photographer Peter Osnos the original publisher of The Art of the Deal validated Monday that Michele Singer took the cover image of Trump s bestseller Kentucky Republican Rep Thomas Massie who has bucked much of his party s lockstep agreement with the president criticized Trump for the comment Regardless of how you felt about Rob Reiner this is inappropriate and disrespectful discourse about a man who was just brutally murdered Massie wrote in a post on X I guess my elected GOP colleagues the VP and White House staff will just ignore it because they re afraid I challenge anyone to defend it Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene a Georgia Republican whom Trump branded a traitor for disagreeing with him responded to Trump s message by saying This is a family tragedy not about politics or political enemies Republican Reps Mike Lawler of New York and Stephanie Bice of Oklahoma both moderates who rarely publicly disagree with the president also posted messages criticizing Trump s message Reiner was one of the largest part functioning Democrats in the film industry regularly campaigning on behalf of liberal causes and hosting fundraisers He was a vocal critic of Trump calling him in a interview with Variety mentally unfit to be president and the single-most unqualified human being to ever assume the presidency of the United States The White House which amplified the president s post did not respond to a message about the criticism it was receiving and calls for Trump to take it down The unsympathetic message was the latest example of Trump s unsparing prism through which he views those he perceives as enemies He made retribution against political enemies a prime focus of his campaign for the White House last year And he has in the past made light of violence when it s befallen those on the other side of the political aisle When Nancy Pelosi s husband Paul Pelosi was attacked by an intruder looking for the former House speaker at the family s San Francisco home in and beaten over the head with a hammer Trump later mocked the attack That s despite his comments after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk earlier this year Trump stated Kirk s killing was the tragic consequence of demonizing those with whom you disagree His administration then sought consequences for people who were critical of Kirk or even celebrated his killing Jenna Ellis who was one of Trump s lawyers and worked on his efforts in to overturn the results of the presidential electoral process pointed out Trump s double standard and called his post NOT the appropriate response The Right uniformly condemned political and celebratory responses to Charlie Kirk s death This is a horrible example from Trump and surprising considering the two attempts on his own life and should be condemned by everyone with any decency Ellis declared in a post on X When Trump spoke at Kirk s memorial system he used his remarks to underline how he views his adversaries I hate my opponent the president declared Associated Press writer Hillel Italie in New York contributed to this summary Source
