‘It’s time for him—in the interests of the America he so clearly loves—to announce he will not run for re-election,’ bestselling author urges
Stephen King has joined the chorus of prominent figures demanding President Joe Biden exit the 2024 presidential race.
King’s viral tweet divided his followers, with one person chastising the author for “abandoning Biden at the first bump in the road.”
“Making a change now would be foolish and would lead to a second Trump presidency,” they wrote.
King, 76, has been a vocal critic of former President Trump for years. Since Trump’s first presidential campaign in 2016, King has referred to the businessman on social media as, among other things, a “blabbermouth,” “narcissistic,” “lazy,” “racist,” “unprepared” and “incompetent.”
Last year, a Trump-supporting character in his latest novel Holly died of COVID.
Before the two squared off in the first presidential debate in late June, King went viral when he predicted Trump would lose his re-election bid against the 81-year-old Biden.
“Trump is going to lose. Prepare for it,” he wrote in a message that was viewed by over 5.8 million people on X.
Trump supporters bashed the horror author in the comments with conservative activist Scott Presler challenging the Cujo scribe, writing: “Wanna bet?”
“Stephen King is going to lose his mind when Trump wins. Prepare for it,” another person commented.
Despite King’s enthusiastic endorsement, as well as a glitzy fundraiser attended by some of Hollywood’s most well-known names just weeks prior, Biden fared badly against Trump, stumbling and mumbling his way through the 90-minute debate that aired on CNN.
His dismal performance had many Democrats calling for him to step aside almost immediately after it mercifully ended.
Meanwhile, Trump is having a field day watching from the sidelines as the Democrats reel from the fallout after Biden’s flop was witnessed by tens of millions of Americans and viewers around the world.
Trump, who was filmed behind the wheel as his son Baron rode shotgun, brandished a wad of cash as he asked a bunch of onlookers: “How did I do with the debate the other night?”
After the group praised Trump, the former president went off on Biden and his vice president, Kamala Harris.
“We kicked that old, broken down pile of crap,” Trump said assessing his victory over his rival. “He’s a bad guy.”
Trump said Biden fared so badly that he’s likely going to drop out of the race.
“He just quit, you know — he’s quitting the race,” Trump continued. “I got him out — and that means we have Kamala.”
Before racing off in his cart, Trump fired off one last missive. “They just announced he’s probably quitting. Just keep knocking him out, huh?”
Buoyed by his surge in popularity, a statement from Trump’s campaign team predicted the former president will trounce any other candidate the Democrats may tap to take Biden’s place because he has “a proven record and an agenda to Make America Great Again.”
Biden attempted to quell fears over his electability by participating in an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that aired Friday night. He also made public appearances at campaign stops in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin over the weekend.
But the chorus demanding he step down is becoming more vociferous.
“Biden needs to step aside to allow a vigorous Democratic leader to beat Trump and keep us safe and prosperous,” Hastings wrote.
The View co-host Sara Haines begged Biden to walk away. “It was really hard to watch and it pains me to say this today, but I think President Biden needs to step down and be replaced,” Haines told her co-hosts. ““If we want to defeat Donald Trump in November then I absolutely think that. I think Biden’s team saw it coming. That’s why they pushed for an earlier debate, so they would have time to change course if needed.”
In addition to King, on Monday filmmaker Rob Reiner also urged Biden to leave the race in a message shared with his 2.3 million followers on X.
But despite calls for him to leave, Biden has said he is determined to stick around and won’t be forced into quitting.
“I am firmly committed to staying in this race, to running this race to the end, and to beating Donald Trump,” he wrote Monday in a two-page letter posted to X. “The question of how to move forward has been well-aired for over a week now. And it’s time for it to end … The voters of the Democratic Party have voted. They have chosen me to be the nominee of the party.”