A tragic death and an undignified response

If you were asked to name the director of your favorite film, you might or might not come up with the answer right away. But given Rob Reiner’s generational run of classics—This is Spinal Tap, The Princess Bride, Stand by Me, A Few Good Men, When Harry Met Sally—chances are good he is on your list. It’s no wonder the country is in shocked mourning at the news of the double murder of Reiner and his wife at their L.A. home.

Unlike the political murder of Charlie Kirk, this case appears to be a heartbreaking family tragedy. The couple’s son Nick, whose drug addiction inspired Nick and Rob’s joint project Being Charlie, has been arrested as the prime suspect. (Circumstances resemble the recent murder of gospel singer Jubilant Sykes, also allegedly stabbed by his own son.)

Reiner was politically outspoken, especially in his later years, offering much blunt criticism of Donald Trump. This led online leftists to presuppose a barrage of spiteful MAGA reactions. As if willing their prophecy into fulfillment, some are fastening on a minority of small accounts while ignoring actually gracious statements from various right-wing influencers and film fans. Many people have noted the contrast with ugly celebratory trends from the left when Kirk was shot.

However, the outpouring of non-partisan good will has been soured by none other than Trump himself. In a Truth Social statement, still live as of yesterday, the president went on at length about Reiner’s “mind crippling disease” of “TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.” The post even bizarrely linked Reiner’s politics to his cause of death. There’s no reference to Reiner’s creative legacy beyond the vague acknowledgment that he was a “once very talented movie director and comedy star.”

It is difficult to think of a more graceless way such a statement could have been crafted. Worse, even some who initially made sympathetic statements are now bending over backwards to excuse the president’s words. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, set a model example by contrast, with a statement praising how Reiner’s work “spoke to our fundamental humanity.”

That fundamental humanity also came through in the wake of the Kirk assassination, when Reiner did not follow the trend set by too many fellow leftists. Asked for his gut reaction on the Piers Morgan show, Reiner responded differently: with horror and compassion. “I don’t care what your political beliefs are,” he said, “that’s not acceptable, it’s not a solution to solving problems.” Reiner was also deeply moved by Erika Kirk’s message of forgiveness at the memorial ceremony: “I’m Jewish, but I believe in the teachings of Jesus, and I believe in ‘Do unto others,’ and I believe in forgiveness, and what she said to me was beautiful.”

Of course, that very Christ-like message was immediately undercut by Trump’s memorial speech, where he joked that unlike the Kirks, “I hate my enemies, and I don’t want the best for them.” Some tried to recast this as self-deprecating humor with aspirations to be a better man. But there’s no sign of any such aspiration in how Trump chose to mark the brutal murder of the Reiners. This represents a petty vindictiveness that is utterly out of step with the spirit of Christian charity, or even a rudimentary level of dignity.

It’s true there was little that conservative evangelicals shared politically in common with Reiner, although as an older Jewish-American he was consistently pro-Israel. But on an array of other issues, he held all the positions you would expect of a left-wing Hollywood figure who rarely interacted with people in the conservative evangelical world.

His documentary God’s Country reflected that sadly skewed perspective, hand-picking evangelical interviewees who agreed with his concern. One could wish he had approached Trump’s voters with more nuance despite his distaste for the man himself. Yet his instinctively heartfelt response to Kirk’s murder showed that he was still capable of putting his partisanship aside in a moment that should have transcended political divides.

Today is another such moment. And while the appropriate response to it has regrettably not been modeled at the highest levels of our government, there is nothing to prevent Americans from doing otherwise. May Rob and Michele Reiner’s memory be a blessing, and may Reiner’s work earn new fans for generations to come.

Editor’s note: WORLD has updated this column to correct the name of the suspect in the double murder of Rob and Michele Reiner.