What did Rob Reiner actually post on social media on January 20, 2023 and where can the original be archived?
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Executive summary
Rob Reiner did publish a post on Jan. 20, 2023 that criticized Donald Trump and called for an indictment — the authentic text read, “Until Trump is Indicted for leading a Deadly Insurrection to Overthrow the United States Government, our Democracy will not be restored,” posted at the same timestamp later used in a fabricated screenshot [1] [2]. A separate, profanity-laced image that circulated claiming Reiner wrote “Until Trump goes to prison I will no longer be posting on Twitter” and cursing MAGA supporters is fabricated; multiple fact-checkers found no record of that wording in archived captures of his account [1] [3] [4].
1. The actual Jan. 20, 2023 post and its wording
On Jan. 20, 2023 Rob Reiner posted a message that, according to contemporaneous archives and later fact-checks, said: “Until Trump is Indicted for leading a Deadly Insurrection to Overthrow the United States Government, our Democracy will not be restored,” and that message appears in archived captures tied to the same date and minute that fraudsters later reused [1] [2].
2. The screenshot that wasn’t real: how it differs
The widely circulated image that many shared after Reiner’s death altered the visible text to read that he would stop posting “until Trump goes to prison” and appended profanities targeting MAGA supporters; Reuters, AFP, Snopes, PolitiFact and Lead Stories all concluded the profanity-laden screenshot was fabricated and not present in any archive of Reiner’s account [1] [4] [2] [3] [5].
3. What archives show and where the authentic post can be found
Fact-checkers located archived captures that document Reiner’s genuine Jan. 20, 2023 post and used preservation tools such as Internet Archive (Wayback Machine) and other archived snapshots to compare the real text with the doctored image; Reuters and Snopes report that the Wayback Machine and other archives contain the authentic capture and that no archival record exists for the fabricated profanity-filled version [1] [2] [4].
4. Reiner’s own reaction in real time and how investigators treated the image
When variants of the fake screenshot circulated in January 2023, Reiner reportedly replied to a user sharing the image with “This is not my account,” and outlets noted that researchers could not find the abusive wording in any archived captures of his verified account, which helped establish the image as a manipulated version of an authentic post [4] [5].
5. Why the counterfeit spread and the political context
The doctored screenshot resurfaced amid highly charged political debate after Reiner’s death in December 2025, was amplified by partisan actors including Laura Loomer and others, and was used to justify or rebut public attacks such as a Truth Social post by former President Trump — a context documented by Reuters, AFP, PolitiFact and Hindustan Times in coverage linking the fake to posthumous political skirmishing [3] [1] [4] [6].
6. Bottom line and how to retrieve the original
The bottom line: Rob Reiner did post a Jan. 20, 2023 message calling for Trump’s indictment that is preserved in archival captures, while the profanity-filled “until Trump goes to prison” screenshot is a fabrication with no archival footprint; the genuine Jan. 20, 2023 post can be found in archived snapshots referenced by Reuters, Snopes, AFP and fact-check databases such as Internet Archive/Wayback Machine and archive.is as cited by those outlets [1] [2] [4] [5].