Jack White Criticizes Donald Trump’s Controversial Remarks on Rob Reiner’s Death
President Donald Trump’s recent post, which criticized director Rob Reiner less than a day after Reiner and his wife were found murdered in their Los Angeles home, has sparked widespread backlash across party lines. Musician Jack White is among those expressing outrage over the remarks.
In an Instagram post on December 15, White shared a screenshot of Trump’s comments on Truth Social, referring to the former president as a “disgusting, vile, egomaniac loser, child.”
“Neither he nor any one of his followers can defend this vile, horrible insult to a beautiful artist who gave the world so much,” White continued. “To use someone’s tragic death to promote your own vanity and fascist authoritarian agenda is a corrupt and narcissistic sin. Shame on you, Trump, and anyone who defends this.”
Reiner and his wife, producer Michele Singer Reiner, were discovered with stab wounds in their home on December 14. According to the Associated Press, their 32-year-old son Nick has been arrested on homicide charges. A spokesperson from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department confirmed to Reuters that he is facing serious charges.
While there has been an outpouring of grief online for the filmmaker known for classics like When Harry Met Sally, Trump’s comments took a different tone. He remarked, “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 … 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.”
Continuing his remarks, Trump stated, “He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump,” adding that during the Trump administration, “the Golden Age of America [was] upon us, perhaps like never before.”
Trump’s incendiary comments appear to have crossed a line, even among some Republicans. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene rejected the former president’s remarks, stating on X (formerly Twitter), “This is a family tragedy, not about politics or political enemies,” while Representative Thomas Massie tweeted, “This is inappropriate and disrespectful discourse about a man who was just brutally murdered … I challenge anyone to defend it.”
Jack White has been a vocal critic of the Trump administration, previously condemning the unauthorized use of his music and labeling Trump a “wannabe dictator” following the 2024 presidential election. In August, White criticized the new decor of the White House under Trump’s second term, which prompted communications director Steven Cheung to respond by calling White a “washed up, has-been loser posting drivel on social media because he clearly has ample time on his hands due to his stalled career.”
