‘A Trump victory is essential’: Stephen King doesn’t know you, but he knows you’re smart enough not to eat a certain buffoon’s hogwash

Stephen King has gone toe-to-toe with his sworn nemesis once again, calling out Elon Musk for his consistent support of former President Donald Trump. The acclaimed author has long had tensions with the billionaire X owner. This year alone, King has lamented Musk’s decision to rebrand Twitter, lambasted Musk’s disastrous interview with Trump, and, perhaps most bizarrely, compared the Tesla founder to the villain in Ratatouille. 

Now, coming at Musk with a smidge more kindness, the Carrie author has pleaded with Musk to end his support for Trump’s presidential campaign, which has turned into a gross bromance ever since the assassination attempt in June. In recent months, Musk has officially endorsed the former president, dodged claims of pro-Trump favoritism on X, and shared countless posts about the supposed importance of a Trump presidency for values like free speech. 

“A Trump victory is essential to defense of freedom of speech, secure borders, safe cities and sensible spending!,” the billionaire — who likely has never needed to budget and therefore doesn’t know what ‘sensible spending’ entails — wrote on his platform yesterday. 

That tweet was itself one of multiple pro-Trump, anti-Democrat messages fired off over the last few days by a person who clearly loves the sound of his own keyboard (and that’s coming from a writer). Yesterday, he commended a tweet referring to Kamala Harris as “tyrannical” (has he read Project 2025?), and elsewhere uttered what might’ve been the biggest lie to mankind when he said a Tucker Carlson clip was “worth watching.”

Seemingly having heard enough of Musk’s Trump rhetoric (at this point, the two of them need to get a room), King hurried to his least favorite platform to issue a response. “You’re far too bright to swallow this man’s bullshit,” King wrote, proving in nine short words why he’s a best-selling author. 

The message was notable in that it initially reads as a compliment, though King saved much of his razor-sharp quips for Trump. I’m half-expecting, given his writerly skills, for King to come up with a power couple name for Musk and Trump, since ‘Mump’ is sitting right there.  

Of course, perhaps even King isn’t under the illusion that Musk will waver in his support for Trump, especially since the former President floated the idea of having the billionaire join his presidential cabinet last month. 

Just yesterday, the billionaire said he “can’t wait” to join the Trump administration if he wins in November, a prospect that’s far more frightening than anything in King’s catalog. In any case, should Musk’s support of Trump continue, we can at least rest assured that King will be on the frontlines ensuring ‘Mump’ is always kept in check.