WASHINGTON
US President Donald Trump blamed the "very sad" death of Rob Reiner on what he said was the late Hollywood star's vocal opposition to the Trump administration, which he claimed angered people.
"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," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
"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," he added.
It is not clear what exactly Trump was basing his claims on, but authorities have provided little public information on the ongoing investigation.
Reiner, 78, and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were found dead in their home in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles on Sunday.
The Los Angeles Times newspaper reported, based on anonymous law enforcement sources, that a family member was taken into custody and was being interviewed in connection with the deaths. A source told the Times that the Reiners had wounds consistent with being stabbed.
After his breakout acting role on the TV sitcom All in the Family, Rob Reiner gained acclaim as a director in such films as The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, and A Few Good Men, which got an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.
One of his best-remembered films is the 1984 “mockumentary” This Is Spinal Tap, about an aging heavy metal band’s descent into ridicule and irrelevance. A sequel, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, was released this September.
Reiner was a vocal political activist and was heavily involved in local California and national politics.