This week, we learned of the tragic news that iconic film director Rob Reiner and his wife, producer Michele Singer Reiner, had been brutally murdered in their Los Angeles home. As news broke, it seemed like there was a universal outpouring of emotion as people came together — no matter their political views — to mourn an undeniably tragic loss.

Everyone except for the president of the United States, Donald Trump.

Yes, Trump — the man who holds the same office as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan did — had this to say:

"A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood. 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. 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. May Rob and Michele rest in peace!"

For those who immediately rejected this as fake news, it remains publicly available on Trump's own Truth Social profile. Afterwards, Trump even doubled down on this response!

"Well, I wasn't a fan of his at all. He was a deranged person as far as Trump is concerned. He said he liked, he knew it was false," Trump declared when asked whether he stood by his initial post. "In fact, it's the exact opposite that I was, uh, a friend of Russia controlled by Russia. You know it was the Russia hoax, he was one of the people behind it. I think he hurt himself in career wise."

Now that we've got these vomit-inducing statements out of the way — apologies — we must surely all agree that this is just appalling.

This would be a despicable thing to say for the most anonymous social media troll, let alone the president of the United States who, we must remember, was elected to represent every American, including Rob Reiner.

In damning contrast, perhaps we should remember how Reiner — an outspoken critic of both Donald Trump and the Republican Party, as is his right as an American citizen (lest we forget) — reacted to news of Charlie Kirk's assassination. "I unfortunately saw the video of it and it's beyond belief what happened to him and that should never happen to anybody. I don't care what your political beliefs are. That's not acceptable," Reiner told Piers Morgan of the "absolute horror" he witnessed. "What his wife said... at the memorial they had was exactly right. And totally I believe — you know I'm Jewish — but I believe in the teachings of Jesus and I believe... in forgiveness."

Setting the issue of forgiveness aside — personally, I'm not exactly in favor of forgiving unrepentant murderers — Reiner's reaction was the perfect reaction because it is the American reaction. In a world where our political debates can be brutal, the most brutal fighters in this battle should simultaneously be the first to condemn acts of political violence. Why? Because such an act violates the fundamental American existence.

Reiner passed this test of human decency, and Trump failed it miserably.

Rest in peace, Rob Reiner. I'm sorry that the president of the United States lacks the smallest fraction of the grace and honor you showed Charlie Kirk.

To find out more about Ian Haworth and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: Markus Spiske at Unsplash