President Donald Trump drew strong bipartisan condemnation for his criticism of acclaimed director and actor Rob Reiner shortly after his death, with Republican lawmakers calling Trump's response "wrong" and "disrespectful."
Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer, were killed in their Los Angeles home Dec. 14. Trump responded the next day with a social media post saying Reiner's death was "reportedly due to the anger he caused others through... a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME."
"He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump," the president added.
Trump continued to criticize Reiner during a White House event later in the day, responding to a question about the GOP pushback on his social media post, and whether he stands by it, saying: "I wasn't a fan of his at all. He was a deranged person as far as Trump is concerned."
There has been no indication from officials that Reiner's death had anything to do with his political beliefs. Police took Reiner's son, Nick Reiner, into custody, charged him with murder and are holding him on no bail after his initial bail was set at $4 million, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Records reviewed by USA TODAY.
Trump's reaction to Reiner's death was quickly rejected by many on both the left and right.
"Regardless of how you felt about Rob Reiner, this is inappropriate and disrespectful discourse about a man who was just brutally murdered," Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, who has clashed with Trump, said on social media.
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