Last Friday night, I flipped on Turner Classic Movies just as “This Is Spinal Tap” was coming on. It’s one of those movies that, no matter how many times you’ve seen it, never gets stale.
It was directed by the great Rob Reiner, the actor-turned-A-list-director. On Sunday, in almost unspeakable events, Reiner and his wife, Michelle, were found dead in their Brentwood, California, home. Even more tragic, their 32-year-old son, Nick, has been arrested on suspicion of murder. Nick has struggled with addiction for years.
The Los Angeles Times reported, “Family friends told The Times that Rob and Nick Reiner got into an argument Saturday evening at a party at Conan O’Brien’s home and that many people noticed Nick acting strangely at the party. Nick Reiner, who had struggled with addiction for years, was living in a guesthouse on his parents’ property, family friends told The Times, and his mother had become increasingly concerned about his mental health in recent weeks.”
Reiner’s career in Hollywood was a spectacular one. He first became known for his role as Michael “Meathead” Stivic, the son-in-law of the bigoted Archie Bunker, played by Carroll O’Connor, in the wickedly brilliant “All in the Family” in the 1970s. ( New York Times chief TV critic James Poniewozik has a sharp look at how “All in the Family” previewed some of what we are going through now in this country in “As Archie Bunker’s Foil, Rob Reiner Brought Politics Home.”)
From there, Reiner became a movie director. Starting with “This is Spinal Tap” in 1984, Reiner went on an 11-year run of films that is as impressive as you’re going to find to start a directing career: “The Sure Thing” (1985); “Stand by Me” (1986); “The Princess Bride” (1987); “When Harry Met Sally…” (1989); “Misery” (1990); “A Few Good Men” (1992); and “The American President” (1995).
In 2015, Nick Reiner co-wrote the movie “Being Charlie” — a semi-autobiographical film about addiction and recovery — that was directed by his father.
At the time, Rob Reiner said, “It was very, very hard going through it the first time, with these painful and difficult highs and lows. And then making the movie dredged it all up again.”
Throughout his life, Reiner was involved politically and supported liberal causes.
The New York Times’ Katie Glueck and Adam Nagourney wrote, "His sophisticated understanding of American politics — shaped by his close access to some of the biggest names in the Democratic Party — and his desire to engage beyond writing checks set him apart from standard celebrity activists, according to politicians who worked closely with him.”
In his “Reliable Sources” newsletter, CNN’s Brian Stelter wrote, “Interviewing Reiner was an unforgettable experience. He came prepared with questions as well as answers, reflecting his passion for politics and his keen interest in the news business. When I taped with him in 2018, he immediately put everyone on the set at ease, cracking jokes and acting like the cameras weren't even rolling. He was a natural-born entertainer, literally, as the son of the comedy icon Carl Reiner. But he also took the power of his platform very seriously.”
In a statement, former President Barack Obama said, “Beneath all of the stories he produced was a deep belief in the goodness of people.” Obama also praised Reiner’s “lifelong commitment to putting that belief into action.”
But not all presidents were quite as compassionate …
Trump’s awful reaction
President Donald Trump, of course, shared his thoughts about the death of Reiner and his wife, and, of course, it was completely inappropriate, insensitive and repugnant.
In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote:
A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood. 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!
It appears Trump wrote this before any details emerged that Reiner’s son was booked on suspicion of murder. Not that it mattered. What’s clear is that if this were written by anyone else on the planet, you would swear it was because their social media account had been hacked. But, sadly, because it’s Trump, it should come as no surprise that the post was real. In fact, Mediaite’s Colby Hall wrote that this isn’t just Trump being insensitive, but that “he behaves this way because it works.”
Hall wrote, “Trump does not respond to news so much as seize it. He has learned that speed beats accuracy, provocation beats restraint, and domination beats decorum. In an attention economy driven by algorithms and outrage, the fastest way to own a story is to refuse the norms that once governed public life. Verification slows you down. Silence costs you relevance. Trump has adjusted accordingly.”
So even when it comes to something tragic like this, Trump plows ahead to be in the news.
Colby adds, “His critics are part of the system that makes this behavior rational. The cycle is now automatic: provocation produces outrage, outrage produces coverage, and coverage recenters Trump. He knows this. He relies on it. His behavior is calibrated not just to offend, but to be amplified by those most appalled by it. And yet it cannot be ignored.”
Still, it was at least somewhat encouraging that Trump’s post was roundly criticized by both those on the left and the right and every decent human in between. Reiner had been a fierce critic of Trump, but that didn’t make Trump’s comments any less heartless.
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky tweeted, “Regardless of how you felt about Rob Reiner, this is inappropriate and disrespectful discourse about a man who was just brutally murdered. 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.”
Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote, in part, “This is a family tragedy, not about politics or political enemies. Many families deal with a family member with drug addiction and mental health issues. It’s incredibly difficult and should be met with empathy especially when it ends in murder.”
New York Republican Rep. Mike Lawler wrote, “This statement is wrong. Regardless of one’s political views, no one should be subjected to violence, let alone at the hands of their own son. It’s a horrible tragedy that should engender sympathy and compassion from everyone in our country, period.”
Erick Erickson — the conservative talk radio host, blogger and former politician — tweeted, “A Trump-supporting relative last night told me he was getting tired of the President and wished he'd just disappear a bit. This is the sort of stuff that exhausts people who like the man.”
Others were more blunt.
California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote, “This is a sick man.”
Former ABC News correspondent Terry Moran wrote, “I believe that the vast majority of Americans think that this rant, posted by Trump only a few hours after the horrific murder of a man and his wife, is disgusting and shameful. Americans, by and large, are good and decent people. Our president is not.”
The Fox contributor who goes by the name Kennedy tweeted, “Disgusting, unnecessary and inappropriate.”
On and on and on it went with Trump’s comments being almost universally condemned.
And then there’s this part of the reaction:
Politico’s Kyle Cheney tweeted, “What's particularly striking is that Trump and his allies helped drive a crusade to punish people who expressed similar sentiments in the hours after Charlie Kirk's murder -- a suggestion that someone's politics means they deserved violence.”
It needs to be noted that when Kirk, the right-wing activist, was shot and killed in September, Reiner told British TV host Piers Morgan, “That should never happen to anybody. I don’t care what your political beliefs are. That’s not acceptable.”
Wait, there’s more
Trump wasn’t done with his insensitive reaction to the death of the Reiners. When asked about the negative reaction he was getting for his post, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, “Well, I wasn’t a fan of his at all. He was a deranged person, as far as Trump is concerned. He said — he knew it was false. In fact, it’s the exact opposite — that I was a friend of Russia, controlled by Russia. You know, it was the Russia hoax. He was one of the people behind it. I think he hurt himself, career-wise. He became like a deranged person. Trump Derangement Syndrome. So I was not a fan of Rob Reiner at all, in any way, shape or form. I thought he was very bad for our country.”
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