Which TV interviews did rob reiner call maga leaders fascists and when did they air?

1. What Reiner actually said on TV and when

Reporting identifies a fall/October interview on the network now branded MS‑now (formerly MSNBC) where Reiner warned, “Make no mistake; we have a year before this country becomes a full‑on autocracy, and democracy completely leaves us,” and posed the line, “Do we want fascism or do we want to continue the 248 years of self‑rule?” ^{[3] [1]}. Earlier, outlets record Reiner calling Donald Trump “mentally unfit” and “the single‑most unqualified human being to ever assume the presidency” during a 2017 interview with Variety ^[2]. Other press summaries also cite Reiner’s public remarks across interviews and social media where he used terms like “treason” in 2018 and described the political climate under Trump as “beyond McCarthy era‑esque” ^{[4] [2]}.

2. Which broadcasts carried the “fascism” framing

Multiple mainstream outlets single out an October interview on MS‑now/MSNBC as the broadcast where Reiner used the stark fascism formulation and the “year before…autocracy” warning ^{[3] [1]}. The exact program name is reported generically as MS‑now or MSNBC in these accounts; Axios, CNBC and other outlets cite that fall interview when quoting the “fascism” question and the autocracy warning ^{[1] [3]}.

3. Timeline across years — repeated criticisms, not a one‑off

Coverage documents a pattern: a 2017 Variety interview where Reiner said Trump was “mentally unfit” and “the single‑most unqualified” ^[2], a 2018 moment when he used the word “treason” ^[4], and the October MS‑now/MSNBC interview in 2025 when he framed MAGA/fascism and warned of autocracy ^{[3] [1]}. News outlets summarize these remarks as part of Reiner’s long track record of public denunciations of Trump and MAGA figures ^{[5] [2]}.

4. How news organizations reported the remarks — agreement and emphasis

National and international outlets uniformly cite the October TV interview when quoting the “fascism” phrasing; Reuters‑style summaries in AP and others also highlight the 2017 Variety quote to show long‑standing criticism ^{[1] [2]}. NBC News and CNBC both emphasize the autocracy warning from that October interview as a defining recent statement ^{[3] [6]}. Opinion pages (LA Times, AZ Central) use the same interview and earlier comments to argue that Reiner’s warnings were consistent and, in their view, prescient ^{[7] [8]}.

5. Disagreements, limitations and what reporting does not say

Available reporting identifies the October MS‑now/MSNBC interview and earlier specific interviews (Variety 2017) as the primary on‑air occasions when Reiner used the strongest language ^{[1] [2]}. Sources do not provide a complete list of every TV segment or every date when Reiner used the word “fascist” about MAGA leaders; they instead cite key interviews across years ^{[3] [4]}. Available sources do not mention a comprehensive catalogue of all TV interviews in which Reiner used the label “fascist” or an exact air date/time for every such instance beyond the October interview cited ^{[1] [3]}.

6. Why this matters now — context in the wake of his death

News coverage frames these televised denunciations as part of why Reiner became a frequent target of political debate; his October interview and prior on‑air attacks on Trump are repeatedly referenced in responses from political figures following his death ^{[5] [6]}. Some outlets report that President Trump and others politicized the killing, prompting backlash from conservatives who said the moment was inappropriate — those reactions also explicitly link back to Reiner’s well‑publicized TV criticisms ^{[6] [9]}.

Sources cited: reporting summarized above from Newsweek ^[5], Axios (p1_s4/p1_s7), CNBC ^[3], NBC News ^[6], AP ^[2], Politico ^[4], LA Times ^[7], AZ Central ^[8], OK! Magazine ^[10] and The Globe and Mail ^[11].