Seth Meyers criticized Donald Trump for bringing the deaths of Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, on himself, noting that it was “worse” than he “could have imagined.”
The comedian addressed the double murder on Monday’s “Late Night,” where he remembered Reiner as a filmmaker and a devoted husband. Of course, Meyers also took a moment to address Trump’s reaction to the tragic news, in which the president blamed “Trump Derangement Syndrome” for a role in their deaths.
“Rob was not a fan of the president, and because of that, the president was not a fan of Rob. That’s something that everyone knew,” Meyers said in his tribute to the Reiners. “About 12 hours after Rob and Michele were murdered in their own home, [Trump] wanted to take the opportunity to go on social media and post his thoughts on this tragedy. I was afraid this was something he was going to do, and I was almost certain it would cast a shadow over what was already a very dark day. But it was even worse than I could have imagined.
As Meyers continued, he criticized Trump for creating this tragedy about him, calling him “incapable” of doing anything else.
After reading Trump’s statement on the matter, Meyers clarified that there were no reports at the time indicating that Reiner’s political beliefs played a role in the violence. Rather, Reiner’s son Nick, who had a history of addiction issues, was the prime suspect and was eventually arrested.
“It was probably a troubled family member who committed this atrocious act,” Meyer noted. “Which makes it even more tragic, if you’re a person with even an ounce of humanity, but you need at least that ounce.”
According to Meyers, the only thing “disturbed” about this situation is how Trump supporters will attempt to defend the president’s controversial remarks on the issue.
“We’ve seen the playbook, right? It’s either going to be that they haven’t read it yet or it’s going to be this deviation of ‘you know, the president has this way of speaking that I don’t always agree with,'” Meyers said. “Or they’ll just run out of time and wait for the next tragedy that distracts us all and hope we forget what happened.”
However, Meyers had a moment of optimism, where he wondered if this would be the straw that broke the camel’s back for some Trump supporters — noting that it might be “beyond the mark” for some.
Meyers’ statement comes hours after politicians from both sides condemned Trump for his statement on the double murder. For example, former MAGA supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene said the tragedy was “not about politics or political enemies” following Trump’s comment.
California Governor Gavin Newsom also criticized the president, calling him a “sick man” for his statement about Reiner.
However, House Speaker Mike Johnson avoided responding to Trump’s remarks on Monday, choosing instead to condemn the “senseless violence” after a weekend full of tragedy.
Watch Meyers’ full statement on the controversy above.
“Late Night With Seth Meyers” airs weeknights at 12:35 p.m. ET on NBC.
