Legendary actor/writer/director Rob Reiner has not been shy about sharing his political views on Twitter. Certainly, fans who remember him as the young liberal Mike “Meathead” Stivic in the classic sitcom All in the Family shouldn’t be surprised that he has made headlines with his hot takes on right-wing figures like Donald Trump and Kyle Rittenhouse.
However, more surprisingly the When Harry Met Sally director caused a “When Twitter Met Salty” moment, stirring up controversy by tweeting an enthusiastic endorsement of Joe Biden’s presidency:
President Biden has been the most accomplished and legislatively successful president in the last 60 years. He has saved our Democracy from going over a Cliff. Let’s hope he decides to run for re-election.
Although the usual assortment of faceless avatars, cartoon frogs, and right-wing “celebrity” podcasters immediately responded with the same harsh memes circulating Twitter since 2012, he got support from one surprising corner: funk legend George Clinton. And while it may be surprising that Clinton would step into a political fight, it must be remembered that he’s spent 50 years serving the Parliament Funkadelic, whose space program successfully launched the Mothership at every single concert.
Clinton made sure that Reiner understood they were simpatico, tweeting 24 American flags and a bunch of thumbs up at the director.
While Reiner’s spent the bulk of his directorial career skirting politics, with classic films like The Princess Bride, Stand By Me, and A Few Good Men avoiding the subject altogether, and 1995’s The American President focusing on a romantic comedy plot, his last couple of films – LBJ and Shock & Awe – have addressed his political views directly.
One politician who won’t be seeking Reiner’s endorsement is Russian president Vladimir Putin, whose government recently put Reiner on a list of politicians and public figures banned from entering the country.
