Musician Jack White criticized Donald Trump for using the death of Rob Reiner to promote his own “vanity and fascist authoritarian agenda.”
The White Stripes frontman took to Instagram on Monday to respond to the president’s baseless claim that the violent death of Reiner and his wife, Michele, was the result of “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” The couple’s 32-year-old son, Nick Reiner, is in custody of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s office in connection with their deaths, according to arrest documents.
White described the 79-year-old president, who shamelessly doubled down on his comments in the Oval Office later Monday afternoon, as a “disgusting, vile, egomaniac, loser, child.”
“Neither he nor any one of his followers can defend this gross, horrible insult to a beautiful artist who gave the world so much,” continued White, 50, who called Trump an “obvious fascist” after the 2024 election.
“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.”
Trump’s comments drew bipartisan rebuke, including from Republicans like retiring Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie. His post is still up as of publication.
“God bless you Rob Reiner and thank you for what you gave the world. I never even met you and I still stand by you,” White concluded, referencing the 1986 coming-of-age film that Reiner directed.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about White from the Daily Beast.
Trump’s post, while “disgusting,” is not entirely shocking given the president’s track record of being so self-absorbed, political analyst David Rothkopf noted.
“Donald Trump is a sociopath,” Rothkopf said on The Daily Beast Podcast. “It stands in particularly stark contrast to the fact that Rob Reiner was a mensch.”
“Have you ever seen Donald Trump express a human emotion, ever a normal emotion of joy, of happiness for somebody else, of grief about something else, of compassion for the American people?” Rothkopf asked. “He doesn’t do it because he’s broken.”
