Stephen King's Donald Trump Message Goes Viral

Stephen King is well-known online for criticizing Donald Trump—and now he's implied the former president has gone crazy.

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday, the critically acclaimed author wrote: "The cheese appears to be slipping off Donald Trump's cracker." Newsweek reached out to representatives for King and Trump via email Monday for comment.

The line is a reference to his 1996 novel, Green Mile, which tells the story of a death row supervisor who encounters an inmate who displays inexplicable healing and empathetic abilities. In 1999, it was adapted into a fantasy drama film of the same name. The phrase: "I think this boy's cheese has done slid off his cracker" is said by prison guard Bill Dodge and it means that someone has gone insane, in the same vein as "losing one's marbles."

The post quickly went viral and at the time of writing, it had received 1.9 million views. King's tweets always prove to be divisive, and people took to the replies to share their thoughts on what he said.

He clearly angered a lot of people, with one person writing: "Joe Biden gets lost in an elevator, gets confused by a teleprompter, and can't remember what day it is. He was like this already when he 'won' in 2020. Now he's slower than a fiberless diet. More importantly, he ruined the US border and economy. That's what matters."

"You're a writer, and this is all you could come up with?" said another.

"How many stories have you written where the central plot device is people feeding on children?" a different X user asked.

Andrew Tate, who was accused of human trafficking and organized crime after a raid on his properties in Romania in 2022, also commented on the post. He wrote: "You sir are a bumbaclart." Also spelled bumbaclot, the word is Jamaican slang that is often used to express disgust or dismay.

Others agreed with King and questioned Trump's sanity themselves.

"At what point was the cheese on his cracker??" a different X user asked.

"trump is so confused. Whenever the judge asks him if he wants conjugal visits, he thinks it's a cognitive test. Whenever a restaurant offers him cognac, he thinks it's a cognitive test," someone else wrote.

"Which is a nice way of saying that Trump is nuttier than squirrel t****," a third person commented.

A fourth added: "Bruh, that cheese is already on the floor, lol [laugh out loud]!"

While King didn't specify what his tweet relates to exactly, there are a few things he could be referencing.

Republicans have been focusing heavily on the health and mental acumen of President Joe Biden, with several arguing the 81-year-old doesn't have the stamina for another four years in the White House. But Democrats have hit back in kind against 77-year-old Trump, by some margin the frontrunner for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, by drawing attention to gaffes such as when he appeared to confuse GOP rival Nikki Haley with Nancy Pelosi during a rally in New Hampshire on Friday.

That's not the only thing that King could be referring to, as a video that appeared to show Trump slurring his words at a rally in Rochester on Sunday stoked concern among social media users. The five-second clip was shared on X by the Biden-Harris HQ account, which is run by Joe Biden's re-election campaign.

In the footage, taken from conservative outlet Right Side Broadcasting Network, Trump comments: "You don't have to be a total genius, remain in Mexico, until you've..." at which point he becomes unintelligible for the final two seconds. The Biden-Harris HQ account wrote: "Trump slurs his words while ranting: In Mexico until [unintelligible]."

The former president's slurred speech took place as he attacked Biden over immigration and praised the 'Remain in Mexico' policy he implemented in January 2019, which required migrants seeking to enter the U.S. to stay in Mexico until their immigration court date.

King joined the Democratic party in 1970 and has been an outspoken critic of Trump since before the 77-year-old 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 Hilary Clinton's campaign.