Stephen King Ridicules Donald Trump

Stephen King has not finished criticizing Donald Trump on social media, turning Fox News' ridicule of Joe Biden towards the former president.

The horror author watched the network's The Five on Monday, in which one of the hosts referred to Biden as "Old Yeller." They went on to discuss that the president's reelection team will be spending $30 million on an ad buy as he moves quickly into the U.S. general election campaign.

The hosts also used the segment to criticize 81-year-old Biden's ongoing history of making verbal gaffes during public appearances, which is a sticking point for Republican voters.

However, King took issue with the coverage. "The Five on Fox News is calling Biden Old Yeller. Right nickname, wrong candidate. Trump is the one who thinks he's running against Obama," he posted to X, formerly Twitter.

Newsweek emailed representatives for King, Biden, former President Barack Obama and Trump for comment on Tuesday.

King's post—viewed 331,400 times at the time of writing—refers to Trump, 77, having repeatedly referred to Obama as the current U.S. president while on the campaign trail. However, Trump insists that calling Biden "Obama" isn't a blunder at all. In a post he shared to Truth Social in November 2023, the former president said he does it "sarcastically" as believes Obama is running things behind the scenes.

King's posts always prove to be divisive, and many people took to the comments to respond to his latest one.

"Anyone with half a brain knows Obama is involved. Come on, Steve," one person wrote.

"Most people think Obama is running this country from his basement. Trump is most likely right on this, he seems to be always right," said another.

A third added: "Like a lot of us, Trump doesn't believe Biden is in charge of anything. When Biden says he's going to get in trouble, does he sound like someone in charge of anything to you?"

But others said neither Trump nor Biden should be running for president.

"Can we agree to put them both out to pasture.... And not pet cemetery," someone else said, referring to the title of one of King's books.

"Admit it, they are both way too old to run," wrote another.

Biden and Trump are the overwhelming favorites to secure the 2024 nominations for the Democratic and Republican parties respectively, setting up a 2020 rematch in November's general election. In recent months, polls for the hypothetical match-up have averaged out to show the two candidates neck-and-neck with voters.

As he was 78 at the time of his inauguration in January 2021, Biden is the oldest individual in U.S. history to hold the office of the presidency. Throughout his term, concerns about his age have persisted among voters, who have frequently told pollsters they believe he is too old to be president and should not run for a second term.

Republican opponents have also attempted to position age as a key argument against Biden's presidency, citing some instances in speeches where he appears to flub lines or mix up terms. Some have even gone so far as to allege that he is secretly suffering from senility or dementia.

Supporters of Biden have countered these claims, highlighting the president's numerous accomplishments and noting Trump's own age-related struggles. Trump is only four years younger than Biden, and opponents have cited numerous recent instances of slurred speech, mispronunciation, and mixed-up names in public addresses and rallies to argue that his cognitive health is worse than his Democratic rival.

King joined the Democratic Party in 1970 and has been an outspoken critic of Trump since before he was elected president in 2016.

On May 24, 2016, King was one of 450 writers to sign an open letter opposing Trump's candidacy, with the author supporting Hillary Clinton's campaign.