‘Trump Was a Horrible President and Is a Horrible Person,’ Says Stephen King

“It” and “The Shining” author Stephen King has made his views on former U.S. President Donald Trump clear.

In an interview with the Sunday Times, where he was in conversation with “Pointless” presenter Richard Osman, King said: “I happen to think that Trump was a horrible president and is a horrible person. I think he actually engaged in criminal behavior and, certainly, I felt that he was a sociopath who tried to overturn the American democracy not out of any political wish of his own but because he could not admit that he had lost.”

When asked about the rise of fascism in the U.S., King said: “There is a strong right wing, a political right wing in America, and they have a megaphone in some of the media. They’re not fascists but they’re hard right-wingers. They’re certainly climate change deniers, so that is a real problem.”

One of the most prolific authors on the planet, King has published 64 novels, beginning with “Carrie” in 1974, which have sold more than 350 million copies, in a career spanning 50 years. His 65th, “Fairy Tale,” will be published in September.

“What I thought I would like to do was write a thumping good read. The idea was that I would do something that would make me happy and take me away from COVID and Trump, politics and everything else that I would fall into every day. Pretty much that’s what happened,” King said about “Fairy Tale” during the interview.

King, who has been conferred the Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence, has also been vocal in his support for Salman Rushdie, who was attacked last week.

I'm trying to cheer myself up this afternoon. What happened to Salman Rushdie preys on my mind. — Stephen King (@StephenKing) August 13, 2022

I hope Salman Rushdie is okay. — Stephen King (@StephenKing) August 12, 2022

King’s works have been adapted for film and TV numerous times and several more are in the works.