CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin pressed Speaker Mike Johnson about President Trump’s remarks calling filmmaker Rob Reiner “deranged” after Reiner and his wife were found stabbed to death and their son was charged with first‑degree murder. Johnson called the killings an “unspeakable family tragedy,” said he had spoken from the heart and cited scripture, but declined to directly condemn the president’s comments on camera. Sorkin urged Johnson that leaders can both express sympathy and criticize inflammatory rhetoric. Reports also detail a confrontation between Reiner and his son at a party less than 24 hours before the deaths.
Sorkin Presses Speaker Mike Johnson Over Trump’s 'Deranged' Remark After Fatal Reiner Stabbings
CNBC host Andrew Ross Sorkin pressed House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on the president’s harsh remarks about filmmaker and activist Rob Reiner after Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were found stabbed to death and their son, Nick Reiner, was charged with first‑degree murder.
On Squawk Box, Sorkin recounted how President Donald Trump responded to the killings by suggesting that Reiner suffered from “Trump Derangement Syndrome” and by calling the filmmaker “a deranged person.” Reporters in the Oval Office later asked the president about his comments, which prompted Sorkin to ask whether leaders should directly condemn such rhetoric.
Sorkin: “You didn’t answer it earlier this week. And I think in a moment like this, when the country sees something like this and then sees the president make these comments, and then you were asked about them and didn’t comment on them. So, I wanted to hear your thoughts.”
Johnson said he had already commented but objected that his remarks were not replayed by the press. He called the killings an “unspeakable family tragedy” and expressed sympathy for the Reiner family. He then cited scripture and pushed back against the expectation that he offer continual commentary on every presidential remark.
Johnson: “Look, I know. I’m asked to give running commentary on everything that the president says every five minutes of the day… I am my own person, and I speak, you know, from my voice. The president and I address issues differently sometimes. That’s not the way I would have done it. It’s not the way I have done it.”
Sorkin pressed Johnson to separate sympathy for the family from accountability for inflammatory rhetoric, saying, “You can hold two ideas in your head at the same time… you can praise the president about many things, and you can condemn the president’s comments about certain things.” Johnson reiterated that he had commented and said he did not know what more to add.
Separately, multiple reports say that less than 24 hours before the killings, Rob Reiner and his son Nick had a loud confrontation at a party hosted by Conan O’Brien; police later charged Nick Reiner with first‑degree murder in connection with the deaths.
Watch the exchange on CNBC’s Squawk Box for the full interview.
