Donald Trump has defended his controversial comments about Hollywood film director Rob Reiner.
This weekend saw the film world devastated by the news that Reiner, 78, and his 68-year-old wife, Michele Singer Reiner, had been found dead in their Los Angeles home on Sunday (14 December).
Reiner, known for films such as Spinal Tap, When Harry Met Sally and The Princess Bride, and Michele were found inside their home at around 3:30pm.
They are understood to have sustained fatal knife injuries.
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The couple's 32-year-old son, Nick Reiner, has since been arrested following his parents' deaths. It comes after reports that Nick and Rob had 'argued' while at a Christmas party hosted by Conan O'Brien the night before.
As tributes around the world poured in for the couple, US President Donald Trump caused backlash with his statement which suggested the director had died from 'Trump derangement syndrome'.
The 79-year-old has received major criticism over his remarks, including from close Trump allies such as Marjorie Taylor Greene, who said the deaths were 'not about politics or political enemies' and 'should be met with empathy'.
Trump has since addressed the topic of Rob and Michele Reiner's deaths once again, not to roll back on his previous comments but instead hammer home his dislike for the 78-year-old director and actor.
"I wasn't a fan of his at all," Trump said during a Q&A with reporters. "He was a deranged person as far as Trump is concerned."
Yes, that is the US president referring to himself in the third person.
Trump went on to say that Reiner believed he was a 'friend of Russia, controlled by Russia'.
"He was one of the people behind it [the Russia hoax]," the US leader claimed.
"I think he hurt himself career wise," he continued. "[He] became a deranged person. Trump derangement syndrome.
"So I was not a fan of Rob Reiner at all, in any way, shape or form. I thought he was very bad for our country."
Reiner had been a vocal critic of Trump's over the years, previously telling Variety that he was 'mentally unfit' to be the leader of the US.
He also revealed during a 2021 interview that he was planning to develop a TV series examining the relationship between Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin, named The Spy and the Asset.
"It’s all about Putin and Trump, and it takes them from their childhoods up to the point where they cross and what happens to democracy as a result of this convergence," he explained on The Dean Obeidallah Show.
Meanwhile Trump's latest comments echo his initial Truth Social comments, which you can read in full below: "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, together with his wife, Michele, 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.
"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. May Rob and Michele rest in peace!"
Topics: Donald Trump, US News, Crime
Brenna Cooper