Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel condemned President Donald Trump after the president used Rob Reiner’s killing to attack the filmmaker’s politics, calling the message “hateful and vile” during his monologue. Kimmel told viewers he initially assumed the post wasn’t real, then read it to the audience and argued Trump was exploiting a tragedy before investigators had publicly laid out what happened.
Reiner, 78, and his wife, photographer Michele Singer Reiner, were found dead at their home in Los Angeles’ Brentwood area on Sunday, and police arrested their son, Nick Reiner, on homicide charges, with a motive still unclear. Trump responded on Truth Social by branding Reiner “tortured and struggling,” invoking “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” and suggesting—without evidence—that Reiner’s public criticism of him helped trigger the violence. The White House’s “Rapid Response” account reposted Trump’s message.
By Monday, Trump had shifted from social-media provocation to an on-camera defense, telling reporters he was “not a fan” of Reiner and again calling him “deranged.” The remarks drew condemnation from Democrats and a pocket of Republicans, including Reps. Thomas Massie and Marjorie Taylor Greene, who said the episode should not be turned into a political fight. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a key Trump ally, also distanced himself, urging public figures to “appeal to our better angels.”
Kimmel connected Trump’s comments to a recent pattern in U.S. politics and media: a race to lock in a partisan storyline before facts are known. He pointed to the reaction cycle after the September killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk—an episode that triggered backlash against Kimmel and briefly pulled his show off the air—then said he planned to keep highlighting Trump’s rhetoric in Reiner’s name. Conservative voices also split, with some urging Trump to delete the post and others defending it as a warning rather than mockery.
