Jack White, Whoopi Goldberg, Jimmy Kimmel, Josh Gad hit back at “disgusting, vile, egomaniac, loser, child” Donald Trump over Rob Reiner death comments

    Donald Trump and Rob and Michele Reiner

    Famous faces including Jack White, Josh Gad and Whoopi Goldberg have come forward to criticise Donald Trump for his “vile” comments about Rob Reiner’s death.

    The beloved Hollywood director (78) and his wife Michele (68) were tragically found dead in their Los Angeles home on Sunday December 14.

    The LAPD later said that it was investigating the case as an “apparent homicide”, and outlets including TMZ and People reported that the two had suffered wounds consistent with a knife attack.

    Last night (Monday December 15), it was revealed that their 32-year-old son Nick Reiner had been arrested and was in in custody on $4million (£2.9million) bail.

    Since news broke of their deaths, countless tributes have poured in for Rob and Michele Reiner, including from Stephen King and Paul McCartney, who highlighted the filmmaker’s immense talent and their fond memories they had together.

    Donald Trump, however, launched a personal attack on the Stand By Me Director, and put forward false claims that his murder was brought about by his “obsession” with criticising him.

    “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,” the President’s post said.

    “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.”

    Reiner was consistently outspoken about Trump, and previously called him “mentally unfit” and “the single most unqualified human being” to be US President in a 2017 interview with Variety.

    Unsurprisingly, the comments made by the President have sparked widespread backlash from many, including Jack White, who took to Instagram to call Trump a “disgusting, vile, egomaniac loser, child”.

    The former White Stripes icon continued: “Neither he nor any one of his followers can defend this gross, horrible insult to a beautiful artist who gave the world so much. 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,” he added. “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.”

    Jimmy Kimmel also hit back at the comments during the opening monologue of last night’s episode of his talk show. Describing Reiner as “one of our greatest directors and patriots”, Kimmel went on to add: “What we need in a time like this is compassion and leadership, we did not get that from our president because he has none of that to give… Just when you think he can’t go any lower, he somehow finds a way to do that.”

    “It’s so hateful and vile, when I first saw it I thought it was fake. Even for him that seemed too much, but nothing is too much for him,” he continued. “That corroded brain is in charge of our lives. If you voted for that, it’s OK to reconsider. It’s perfectly fine.”

    Actor Josh Gad went on to share on Threads that “There is no low that is too low for this fucking psychopath. Rob Reiner was 1000 times the man you are, and unlike you, he actually cared about the American people.”

    Gad then went on to describe Reiner as “one of the greatest directors of our time”, “a friend” and “simply a beautiful person”. He also added that the director and his wife were “two of the most kind and caring souls you could ever imagine”.

    Similarly, on The View, Whoopi Goldberg requested that Trump’s comments not be read aloud on air, telling co-host Sunny Hostin: “Don’t read it, just tell them that it’s there”.

    Another co-host, Ana Navarro, then agreed, and hit out at Trump by saying: “This is a tragedy, not just for the family, but for all who knew and loved him, and for the President of the United States to make this about him as a way to attack Rob Reiner, because he exercised his American right to speak up with what he disagreed with, is shameful.

    “It is disgraceful,” she added. “And of all the disgusting things that Donald Trump has done, this is right up there.”

    Politicians to have condemned the president’s comments include California’s Democratic governor Gavin Newsom, who wrote on X: “This is a sick man”, and US House member Maxwell Alejandro Frost, who chimed in: “What a despicable piece of garbage.”

    US senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat shared: “He’s just lost it. Now saying Rob and Michele Reiner caused their own murder because they didn’t support him. So sick”, while US House member Zoe Lofgren, called his comments “a new low for this petty, hateful man”.