Former First Lady Michelle Obama offered a moving tribute to director Rob Reiner and his wife, photographer Michelle, while speaking to late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, calling the late couple "decent and courageous" after President Donald Trump mocked Reiner's death in a Truth Social post.
The Reiners were murdered in their Brentwood, Los Angeles, home Sunday afternoon. Reiner's son, Nick, was charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of his parents. He faces a maximum sentence of life without parole or the death penalty, according to the Los Angeles district attorney.
Trump was later widely condemned for posting on Truth Social that Reiner had “driven people CRAZY” with his "Trump Derangement Syndrome," referencing the late Reiner's vocal opposition to Trump's policies.
Despite acknowledging that Reiner's murder is "a very sad thing," Trump claimed Reiner was killed "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."
Trump suggested Reiner's "paranoia" was "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."
During her interview with Kimmel, Obama revealed she and her husband, former President Barack Obama, were supposed to see the Reiners on the day they were killed.
Obama went on to pay tribute to the Reiners and, in the process, slam Trump for his insensitive post without even uttering his name:
“We’ve known them for many, many years and we were supposed to be seeing them that night, and we got the news."
“Let me just say this, unlike some people: Rob and Michele Reiner are some of the most decent, courageous people you ever want to know. They’re not deranged or crazed."
"What they have always been are passionate people. In a time when there’s not a lot of courage going on, they were the kind of people who were ready to put their actions behind what they cared about. And they cared about their family."
"And they cared about this country. And they cared about fairness and equity. That is the truth."
You can hear what she said in the video below.
Many praised her for speaking out—and criticized Trump's response themselves.
Trump has since doubled down on his remarks, telling reporters the director was "very bad for our country."
The president described Reiner as a "deranged person" who was partly "behind" claims that Russian operatives had colluded with Trump's campaign to secure his victory in the 2016 presidential election. He was not a fan of Reiner "at all, in any way, shape or form."
Trump's remarks have proven so controversial that they prompted criticism from members of his own party, including Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie, who has been more critical of Trump than his GOP colleagues since Trump began his second term in office..
Writing on social media, Massie called Trump's remarks inappropriate and disrespectful discourse about a man who was just brutally murdered." Massie added that he suspects "my elected GOP colleagues, the VP, and White House staff will just ignore it because they're afraid" of getting attacked by Trump themselves.
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