About two-thirds of Americans say President Donald Trump’s social media post insulting murdered actor-director Rob Reiner was inappropriate, according to a new YouGov poll.
It comes amid a tidal wave of criticism over the president’s bizarre social media post and follow-up remarks following the Hollywood icon’s tragic death.
“YouGov showed Americans Trump’s post, as well as social media posts about Reiner by several other politicians from both parties, and asked what they thought about it,” YouGov said in a press release.
“Americans weren’t fans. When shown a screenshot of it, 72% of Americans say Trump’s post is inappropriate, and just 17% say it is appropriate.”
Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner were found dead at their home by their daughter, Romy Reiner.
The couple’s youngest son, Nick Reiner, was arrested hours later and has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with their deaths.
In contrast to the widespread mourning that the actor-director and his wife have received, the president instead opted to brand Reiner “struggling” and “once very talented.”
Trump also said Reiner had a “massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME,” something the president often labels his critics with.
The president added in a post on his own Truth Social website: “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.”
YouGov reported that 55% of Republicans described the post as “inappropriate,” and 90% of Democrats. Among non-MAGA Republicans, 66% said the president’s comments were inappropriate, compared with 19% who viewed them as appropriate.
Opinions among MAGA Republicans were more divided, with 45% calling the remarks inappropriate and 43% saying they were appropriate.
A longtime critic of Trump, Reiner said in a 2024 interview with The Guardian that the former president was a “criminal” who “basically lies every minute of his life.”
Tributes to Reiner posted by other political figures were, in contrast to the president’s reaction, accepted by Americans as “appropriate”.
For example, Senator Ted Cruz called Reiner “one of the most talented movie-makers to have ever lived”. At the same time, former commander-in-chief Barack Obama said the couple “will be remembered for the values they championed and the countless people they inspired.”
