Did Reiner say he wished the assassins was a better shot ?
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Executive summary
Rob Reiner did not, on the available record, say he “wished the assassin was a better shot”; the claim circulated online is unfounded and was debunked by Snopes after checking available footage and statements, which instead show Reiner condemning political violence [1]. Multiple mainstream reports of Reiner’s public remarks around other politically motivated killings likewise record him expressing horror and calling for civility, not celebrating attempts on elected officials [2] [3] [4].
1. The viral claim: what was being said and where it spread
A mid-December 2025 online claim circulated that Rob Reiner had wished the gunman who tried to kill then-presidential candidate Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024 “hadn’t missed”; that allegation was amplified on social platforms and reused by partisan outlets seeking to paint Reiner as endorsing political violence [1]. The claim was specific and evocative, but the record assembled by fact-checkers shows no primary source—no video clip, transcript, or contemporaneous interview—in which Reiner expressed such sentiment [1].
2. What the fact-checking and reporting found
Snopes investigated the viral post and concluded the assertion was unfounded after searching available interviews and public statements; Snopes specifically noted existing footage of Reiner condemning political violence, including his reaction to the murder of Charlie Kirk, and found no evidence Reiner supported the 2024 assassination attempt on Trump [1]. Major news organizations reporting on Reiner’s death and the fallout for President Trump also framed Reiner as someone who publicly decried politically motivated killings rather than celebrated them, reinforcing the absence of proof for the viral quote [5] [2] [4].
3. Reiner’s documented stance on political violence
Contemporary reporting and clips that surfaced in the wake of Reiner’s death show him condemning the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk and expressing “absolute horror” at political killings, not applauding them; outlets including Hindustan Times and The Hill recount his condemnations of political violence and his praise for forgiveness and civic decency after Kirk’s murder [3] [2]. Analysts and commentators who examined Reiner’s past remarks stressed that his public persona and statements were consistent with opposing violence even while being a vociferous critic of Donald Trump, undermining the plausibility of the viral claim [4].
4. Why the rumor gained traction and who benefited
The false attribution spread in a hyperpartisan media ecosystem where incendiary quotes about assassinations are highly shareable and can be weaponized to discredit opponents; some outlets and social accounts recycled the claim to portray Reiner as hypocritical or extreme while others used the rumor to deflect criticism of partisan responses to killings [6]. This pattern mirrors how previous misinformation has been amplified around high-profile deaths: emotive claims require little verification to go viral, and actors on both sides of the political aisle have incentives to circulate or retweet salacious attributions that bolster their narratives [7] [8].
5. Limits of the record and responsible conclusion
All available reporting collected here—news coverage and the Snopes fact-check—found no attributable primary source for the quote, and multiple outlets documented Reiner’s public condemnations of political violence, so the responsible conclusion is that the claim that Reiner said he wished the would-be assassin had been a better shot is unsupported by evidence and was debunked in fact-checking [1] [2] [3]. Because the sources provided do not include every possible private comment or unreleased recording, this conclusion is limited to public, verifiable statements and reporting reviewed by fact-checkers and mainstream outlets [1] [5].